ASEAN and United States clash over aid programs
ASEAN and United States clash over aid programs
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
BATAM, Riau (JP): A senior American official said yesterday that ASEAN member states should not expect an increase in aid and that trade and investment should be the main instrument of growth.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Winston Lord maintained that while aid was important, it should not be the primary engine for development.
"We will continue to have some aid programs in Asia, but the real emphasis has got to be on trade and investment, bilateral dealings, regional through APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) and global efforts through the WTO (World Trade Organization)," said Lord.
"I can't promise there'll be a lot of foreign aid in the future, particularly for this region which on the whole is very dynamic," he added.
Lord headed a U.S. government delegation to attend a two-day dialog with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) counterparts.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The association holds regular meetings with its dialog partners, such as the United States, to discuss political and economic issues of mutual concern. This year's dialog, the 13th, was originally scheduled for January but had to be postponed because bad weather prevented the U.S. officials from leaving America.
During yesterday's opening the chairman of the dialog, Izhar Ibrahim, expressed concern at the continued drop in aid programs of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
"I would like to reiterate the concern of ASEAN due to the diminishing USAID commitment towards ASEAN," said Izhar who is director general for political affairs at the Indonesian foreign ministry.
He said ASEAN understands that Washington is developing economic and commercial orientation in its relations with other countries, however he pointed out that the association will soon be admitting new members -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- who are less economically developed than the present members.
When asked by journalists, Lord acknowledged the challenges facing the new members but stressed again that aid should not be the sole barometer in determining America's commitment to the region.
He added that the Clinton administration shares the concern about the United States' cutback in resources for international activity.
"We have managed, because of the importance of this region, to have much fewer reductions in this region than we have in other regions of the world," Lord noted.
Nevertheless the apparent rapid development of ASEAN itself seems to be one of the primary factors precluding it as a major recipient of aid.
"Certainly aid funds for Asia are not as crucial as they are to some other regions in the world given the dynamism and the economies out here," Lord said.