ASEAN business leaders want bigger role

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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