Asia-Pacific business leaders to meet in Jakarta

Asia-Pacific business leaders to meet in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): More than 100 business leaders from 15 members
of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum have confirmed
their participation in the first Asia-Pacific business meeting
scheduled here on Aug. 24-25, the Organizing Committee announced
yesterday.

"We expect more participants to come in before the
registration deadline in the next few days," said Aminuddin,
chairman of the committee.

The meeting, which will launch the Asia-Pacific Business
Network (APB Net), will feature five plenary sessions and seven
working group sessions dealing with investment, trade,
environment, human resources, transport and communications, small
and medium-scale businesses and energy.

The APB Net was conceived in Bali during the March meeting of
the APEC Working Group on Trade Promotion and was endorsed by the
APEC senior officials during their second meeting also in Bali in
May.

Different from the Pacific Business Forum (PBF) which was
recommended by the first APEC informal leaders meeting in Seattle
last November, APB Net is designed specifically to develop
practical business networking among individual enterprises in the
APEC's 18 member nations.

The first meeting of the APB Net is being organized jointly by
the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Exchange

Aminuddin said that, while the Pacific Business Forum's
objectives are mainly to advise on the role and interplay of
governments and businesses and to make policy recommendations on
business development, the APB Net will be in charge of
translating the policies into business linkages within the APEC
members.

Aminuddin is also Kadin's Vice President for trade and
international relations.

While the PBF membership is limited to two representatives
from each APEC member, the APB Net will develop the broadest
possible base of business involvement across all sectors and
sizes of enterprises, he added.

"We hope the first APB Net meeting would come up with concrete
ideas for business development and other policy inputs which will
be submitted to the PBF meeting in September and to the
forthcoming APEC ministerial meeting in Jakarta," he said.

He added that the meeting is also expected to adopt specific
mechanisms for business networking among the APEC members.

"The main objective is to develop a forum through which
businessmen in APEC members can improve contacts with each other
and exchange information on various business matters," Aminuddin
noted.

The structure and organization of the APB Net will be firmed
up at the inaugural meeting.

According to the provisional agenda, the first APB Net meeting
will be opened by Vice President Try Sutrisno and will feature
several ministers as keynote speakers at its plenary sessions at
the Le Meridien Hotel.(vin)