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)