Asia-Europe forum can be as big as APEC

Asia-Europe forum can be as big as APEC

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia says Asian and European leaders
meeting in a summit for the first time in Bangkok this week can
bring the forum into equal eminency as the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum.

This is possible provided that the two groups avoid discussing
issues which are considered "irrelevant", Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday.

Asked on the outlook of the summit, which opens on Friday, and
whether it could be as "big" as APEC, Alatas did not deny that
such a possibility.

"We will have to see. The two regions are important and both
have a shared interest. We hope a shared perception," he said.

He said however that even APEC, was formed in 1989, had to go
through a long process before achieving its current stature.

"We have to be proportional and see how successful we are in
this first meeting and decide what else we can do in future
years," he said. "This is only the beginning," he added.

The 25 leaders who will gather in Bangkok are from Brunei,
Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam, China, Japan, Korea, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

With the summit just days away, an uncertain cloud remains
amid speculation that European leaders cannot restrain themselves
from incorporating issues such as human rights into the talks.

Asian countries have stressed that "irrelevant" and
"controversial" issues must be shunned, if the summit is to
succeed in uniting perceptions and common goals of cooperation
between the two continents.

APEC, grouping 18 Pacific rim countries has concentrated their
three summit meetings solely on trade liberalization and have
rarely discussed human rights issues at any level of the forum.

Alatas underlined the need to avoid these issues during the
Bangkok summit. He brushed aside media reports suggesting that
the European side would still force the introduction of sensitive
topics in the summit.

"Let's not speculate. We believe that Asia's appeal will be
heard by Europe. Let's just see what happens," he said adding
that "especially because those issues are not relevant with the
aims and atmosphere of the summit, including human rights and
worker's wages."

Among the major topics to be discussed are matters related to
the economy, investment, the World Trade Organization and
reforming the United Nations.

"The Asian side believes it would be best if this first
meeting is directed towards concrete matter which are positive
and can be a uniting force, not things that create tension,"
Alatas said.

Commenting on the international Non-Governmental Organization
meeting which begins in Bangkok today just ahead of the summit,
Alatas said it would have little bearing on leaders discussions.

"We'll see the results of their meeting, but I doubt that it
will be influential to the contents of the (leaders) discussion,
not directly anyway," he said.

Alatas talked to journalists yesterday after meeting his
Ukrainian counterpart H. Udovonka.

The two foreign ministers signed an agreement on economic and
technical cooperation designed as an umbrella agreement to boost
commercial ties and forge a more permanent cooperation between
businesses in the two countries.

Among the major points of the agreement is that both sides
would mutually own and be able to use the intellectual property
rights arising from this agreement.

The two ministers also discussed preparations for Ukrainian
President Leonid M. Kravchuk's official visit to Indonesia
starting on April 10.(mds)