ASEAN retains some control over APEC's direction

ASEAN retains some control over APEC's direction

By Endy Bayuni

JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) is retaining some influence over the direction the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is taking, but it may
eventually have to give up that privilege if the forum continues
to expand its membership.

ASEAN, established in 1967, helped found APEC in 1989 despite
apprehensions that the forum might weaken its own existence, or
replace some of its programs it had painstakingly built over the
years, such as its annual dialog with its major trading partners.

The six ASEAN members -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- agreed to support APEC
after gaining a number of assurances. These include the fact that
ASEAN's existence within APEC is recognized, that APEC's
decisions are not binding, and that any move to institutionalize
APEC must be conducted in phases and in a pragmatic manner.

The other six original APEC members -- the United States,
Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand -- also
threw in a number of concessions for ASEAN for good measure. One
is that the APEC's leadership, and the right to host the APEC
annual meeting, goes to an ASEAN country every other year.
Another is what the APEC members have come to regard as the
"ASEAN way of doing things" -- that any decision must be made by
consensus, meaning that it has to have the support of all the
members, not by a simple majority the West is more accustomed to.
This virtually ensures that APEC moves slowly, or only as fast as
all the members are prepared for it to.

But that was five years ago.

Since then APEC's membership has expanded to 18 -- with the
inclusion of China, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Mexico, Papua New
Guinea and Chile -- and it might be too much for ASEAN to still
insist on chairing the forum every other year.

After Indonesia this year, the baton will be passed to Japan
in January and then to the Philippines in 1996. Before Indonesia,
Singapore and Thailand from ASEAN have chaired APEC, and among
non-ASEAN countries, Australia, South Korea and the United States
have had the privilege.

In a recent television interview, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ali Alatas, when asked to comment on the prospect of ASEAN losing
its right to lead the forum, pointed out that not all ASEAN
countries have chaired APEC.

Although the membership of ASEAN countries within APEC is
still on an individual basis, ASEAN remains a coherence voice
within the forum.

"Of course there are nuances, but ASEAN remains solid," Alatas
said in the APEC discussion aired by the ANteve last Sunday.

Now with talks within APEC about the establishment of a free
trade area and about the move to further institutionalize the
forum, ASEAN's unity is being tested once again.

Indonesian officials said the ASEAN ministers, as has been
the tradition, are scheduled to have their own informal meeting
before the APEC ministerial conference gets underway on Friday.

Officials said ASEAN will also continue to push with its idea
of establishing the East Asian Economic Caucus (EAEC), grouping
Asian countries within APEC although the idea has been opposed by
the United States, and Japan, which ASEAN is counting on to
become a member, has not given any firm response.

For Indonesia, and for the other ASEAN countries and other
developing countries for that matter, its participation in APEC
is seen as a way of countering or neutralizing the tendency for
the big economic powers to try to dominate its economy.

Alatas, during the same television program, pointed out that
the United States and Japan would try to dominate the ASEAN
economies anyway "with or without APEC".

Through the multilateral forum provided by APEC, the
developing countries can neutralize or counter this tendency to
dominate, something that is impossible to do on a bilateral
basis, so the argument goes.

Observers said however that with the expanding APEC
membership, ASEAN would eventually lose some, but not all,
influence over APEC's future.

It is just as well that APEC in 1993 declared a three-year
moratorium on new members while it reviews the criteria for
membership of what now becomes an exclusive grouping, at least as
seen by outsiders.

A number of other countries are already knocking on APEC's
doors. Russia and Vietnam now feel they qualify to be part of the
elite group given that their economies are now "interacting" more
actively with the rest of the region. On the other side of the
Pacific, Peru is also keen in jumping on the APEC bandwagon.

Brazil and Argentina have also expressed an interest although
they are unlikely to be accepted because their shores are not on
the Pacific Ocean.

Similarly, India's request to join has been turned down for
geographical reasons. Only Asian countries with shores on the
Pacific qualify. But Indonesia and a number of other countries
have been pondering the establishment of an Indian Ocean economic
cooperation forum, and the prospect has been enhanced now with
the opening up of South Africa.