ASEAN unity vital: Soeharto

ASEAN unity vital: Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has called on ASEAN to remain
united in the face of liberalized global trade.

"If Southeast Asian nations are unable to remain united, we
will lose the available opportunities," Soeharto said in his
opening address at the first ASEAN Business Summit.

He said the two-day summit would further promote cooperation
between ASEAN's business communities and help prepare for ASEAN
free trade in 2003.

ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, will soon include
Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.

Soeharto said ASEAN's location and its abundant economic
resources made it a strategic production base.

"I am sure that by capitalizing on existing potential ASEAN
will become one region with high economic growth in the coming
decades," he said.

Soeharto said that with strong ASEAN economic growth there
would be a rapid increase in demand for capital goods which were
imported mostly from outside the region.

Soeharto said ASEAN governments and businesses should
cooperate with each other and with other nations to develop a
capital goods industry.

The summit was attended by about 700 people from ASEAN and its
major trading partners like the United States, Europe and
Australia. Scores of ministers and senior officials are taking
part in the summit.

He urged ASEAN businessmen to further promote small and medium
enterprises so they become an essential part of ASEAN industry.

"When we succeed in promoting the potential of these small and
medium enterprises, it will stimulate the public to take a more
active part in our region's various economic activities," he
said.

He said the concrete support of ASEAN business was needed to
develop cooperation for the sub-regional growth triangles agreed
upon at the fifth ASEAN summit in Bangkok.

The sub-regional growth triangles are the Indonesia-Malaysia-
Singapore triangle, the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand triangle, and
the East ASEAN growth area covering Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia,
and the Philippines.

Soeharto said Indonesia had taken the initiative in sub-
regional economic cooperation with the Australia-Indonesia
Development Area covering Bali and other eastern Indonesian
provinces and Australia.

"We all hope that ASEAN's business communities continue to
enhance the efficiency of economic sectors such as industry,
agriculture and services," he said.

He said the business community had been involved in all
efforts and would continue to be a reliable government partner
providing initiatives and perspectives on future opportunities.

He said that when ASEAN expanded, economic potential would be
even bigger.

"ASEAN has enjoyed a period of high economic growth and rapid
development. It will continue to move forward with a view to
creating a better life for the whole of ASEAN, particularly in
the run-up to the implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area in
2003 and the liberalization of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
trade in 2010 and 2020," he said. (bnt)

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