ASEAN's strength will not be lost in APEC: Study

ASEAN's strength will not be lost in APEC: Study

JAKARTA (JP): The strength of the Association of South East
Asian Nations (ASEAN) will not be "diluted" by the Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, a study says.

"Fears that ASEAN will be redundant once the APEC forum is
institutionalized are not based on strong arguments. Seen from
whatever angle, the existence of the forum will never reduce the
importance of ASEAN," says a study on the development of APEC and
its impact on ASEAN conducted by the Indonesian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs.

The results of the study were presented at the Hilton
Executive Club yesterday by a team led by Sujatmiko. A number of
economists and scholars, including Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and
Hadi Soesastro, were also present to discuss the study's
findings.

The study argues that the scope of cooperation in ASEAN is
much larger than that of the APEC forum. The latter focuses only
on economic affairs, especially trade and investment, while ASEAN
encompasses matters of politics, economics and defense.

"These large fields of cooperation, which are not addressed by
the APEC forum, have driven ASEAN to remain in its own tracks,"
the study's draft report says.

APEC groups Canada, the United States, Mexico, Chile, Japan,
Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand,
Papua New Guinea along with the six members of ASEAN -- Thailand,
Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, the Philippines and Indonesia.

The study also assuages fears that developed members will
dominate the APEC forum in the future by saying that ASEAN has
been the core of the forum ever since the formation of the forum
in 1989. ASEAN, on the other hand, was set up in 1967.

"ASEAN has so far influenced the APEC forum in many ways...The
ASEAN's model of the consensus system in adopting any agreement,
for instance, is also applied in APEC," the study says.

Warning

Hadi, executive director of the Centre for Strategic
International Studies, warned that ASEAN's role in the APEC forum
will diminish unless ASEAN members remain united in the forum.

Critics have said that the cohesiveness of ASEAN has been
deteriorating since the second APEC leaders' informal summit in
Bogor last November, when Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines
expressed their own reservations with the Bogor Declaration.

"Indonesia has to take a leadership approach to bridge the
different opinions among ASEAN members as Indonesia has a great
interest in implementing the Bogor Declaration," Hadi said.

He noted that the thorny issues brewing among ASEAN countries
are the substance of the Bogor Declaration, especially on trade
and investment liberalization in the region by 2020.

The study suggests that ASEAN leaders should meet before
attending APEC meetings to consolidate themselves in the face of
the more developed members.

"The pattern shows that the APEC economic leaders meeting will
be conducted annually, at least until 1998.... Thus, the ASEAN
leaders meeting, either formal or informal, becomes very
important...in achieving a single position within the APEC
forum," the study suggests.(rid)