Bogor to take APEC one step forward

Bogor to take APEC one step forward

By Endy Bayuni

BOGOR, West Java (JP): Leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) forum gather here today to take the grouping
one step further forward from their last meeting in Seattle,
Washington, last year, on the question of a regional free trade
zone.

But whether this will be a giant or a small step for APEC will
be determined by the eight-hour informal discussions which the 18
leaders, or their representatives, are slated to hold during
their retreat to the Presidential Palace, a grand Dutch colonial-
style white building set in spacious green surroundings.

Much will also depend on the ability of host President
Soeharto, the oldest and the most experienced statesman in the
pack, to steer the discussions towards some kind of commitment on
the question of free trade, widely regarded as the most important
item on today's agenda.

The 18 APEC leaders will be going to the Garuda Hall, where
the meeting will be convened, by themselves. They will be
accompanied only by their interpreters.

No aides

No aides will be around them to advise, a condition seen as
ideal for the leaders to speak their minds and give their
personal visions on the future of APEC and the region.

This is the same format that was used at the first APEC
leaders meeting in the quiet of Blake Island in Seattle, 12
months ago. The Blake Island meeting, which was attended by
leaders and representatives from 14 of the 15 APEC member
countries, then came up with an "Economic Vision Statement" that
outlined their views on the economic future of the region.

The vision also refers to the establishment of some kind of a
community of Asia-Pacific countries, although it refrained from
trying to define the kind of community they will strive for.

Instead, the leaders then decided to ask APEC's Eminent
Persons Group (EPG) to once more conduct a study based on the
outline of the statement. The EPG report, presented to APEC
chairman Soeharto in August, recommends the establishment of a
free trade area by the year 2020 if not before.

Today, the leaders are back together again to take up the
recommendation. Most of them were present in Seattle.

Second timers

Besides Soeharto, the second timers are U.S. President Bill
Clinton, Canadian Prime Minister Joseph-Jacques Jean Chretien,
Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating, New Zealand Prime
Minister Jim Bolger, Chinese President Jiang Zemin, South Korean
President Kim Young- sam Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong,
Philippine President Fidel Ramos and Brunei Sultan Hassanal
Bolkiah. Taiwan state minister Vincent Siew and Hong Kong
Financial Secretary Sir Hamish Macleod, who are representing
their governments, were also in Seattle last year.

The first timers are Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama
(who was elected only last June) and Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad (who declined Clinton's invitation to attend the
Seattle meeting). Then there are the three new kids on the APEC
bloc: Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, Chile
President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle and Papua New Guinea Prime
Minister Sir Julius Chan.

President Soeharto, as APEC chairman and host of today's
leaders meeting, has made extensive and elaborate preparations
for the event, both in terms of the meeting's substance as well
as the proceedings.

He has already visited the Bogor Presidential Palace on two
occasions in the past two weeks to go over details of the
meeting, the arrival of the leaders and the schedule. He also
inspected the rooms and facilities and also checked up on the
menu.

Informal

Despite elaborate preparations, the Indonesian organizers have
repeatedly emphasized that the Bogor meeting today, like in
Seattle, is informal.

There are two main reasons for this: One is to create an
atmosphere conducive to open and frank discussions without the
usual restrictions required under state protocols.

Another reason is to appease China, which is reluctant to
participate at a meeting in which its representative has to sit
together with those of Chinese Taipei, the official name of
Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Host Indonesia has refrained from inviting
Taiwan's president or Hong Kong's governor for the same reason.

Despite the informality of it all, including the attire the
leaders will be wearing today, the outcome of the leaders'
meeting is crucial, especially if it decides on a deadline for a
free trade area.

There is also concern, echoed by Malaysia, that the leaders
meeting is another step towards the institutionalization of APEC,
which as it has constantly reminded other APEC members, was
founded as a loose consultative forum.

The leaders meeting was the initiative of Clinton when he
envisioned an Asia-Pacific community. President Soeharto
apparently decided to hold the second meeting this year in view
of the unfinished business left at APEC on the question of the
EPG recommendation.

Whether or not there's a need for a third leadership meeting
in Japan, the chair of APEC as of January, will also to a large
extend depend on Bogor, according to political analysts.

If the national leaders can settle the crucial issue today,
then there may not be a need for a third meeting next year. It
will then be left to the APEC ministers to work out the details
of the APEC free trade.