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)