ASEAN business leaders want bigger role

JAKARTA (JP): ASEAN business leaders ended their two-day summit yesterday with a call for a bigger role in the regional economy.

The chairman of the ASEAN Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Aburizal Bakrie, said ASEAN governments should establish policies that would enable businesses to play a bigger role.

He said there were many things that had to be done to give ASEAN businesses a bigger role in the regional economy.

"This means the government should formulate more policies that can benefit the business community," he said after the summit.

"All ASEAN governments have asked for the private sector to play a bigger role in the economy ... We are ready and willing to do so, but the government should also consider making the appropriate policies that will enable us to achieve this," he said.

Aburizal said ASEAN government bureaucracies was an issue which needed had to be addressed.

He said unchecked bureaucracies could curb ASEAN's economic growth and hamper commodity flows within ASEAN, making products uncompetitive.

"Efficiency and high productivity should come from both the business community and government administrations. This will help create a region of overall low-cost economy," he said.

Aburizal said ASEAN businesspeople acknowledged the importance of maintaining regional political stability in boosting economic development.

"We understand that economic disparities will easily rupture political stability, so we seek to apply appropriate technologies which will help to reduce these disparities," he said.

Aburizal said he fully supported the proposal of Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz who earlier this week called for the formation of ASEAN consortia.

Rafidah said such consortia would help ASEAN enter developed markets and attract large international players as partners.

Aburizal said such goals should be supported by the right policies.

"Both governments and businesses should put aside their national egos and think ASEAN," he said.

He said most ASEAN businesspeople were already "thinking ASEAN. The impediments we face most are government regulations."

Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky Ariwibowo said he wished to see an efficient flow of industry and trade so no Indonesian businesses faced problems when entering the free trade next century.

"One of the ways to achieve this is by gradually reducing protection so industrial sectors become more independent as they face competition," he said.

Tunky said that after removing protectionist measures, the government would continue to help businesses by eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic measures.

About 700 people from ASEAN and its major trading partners like the United States, Europe and Australia attended the summit.

The second summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur in 1999.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. (rid/pwn)

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