'Honestly, I just know what WTO stands for'

'Honestly, I just know what WTO stands for'

Free trade and very low tariffs on trade are deemed the basic
tenets of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which recently held
its Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico. However, there remains
a large gap between rich and poor countries. As one of the
members, Indonesia seem to be powerless, despite worldwide debate
on the issue. The Jakarta Post talked to some residents on the
issue.

Bambang, 32, works for a multinational company in Bekasi and
lives in Bekasi with friends:

I recognize the abbreviation WTO. I know only a little about
it, though.

I think we have to keep on fighting for a share of world trade
while improving our own economic situation.

Otherwise, our country's economy will remain weak, as it is
now. We should learn a precious lesson from China, Taiwan,
Vietnam and other neighboring countries' economies.

On the other hand, we realize that as a developing country, we
are often treated unfairly in world trade, let alone in the free
trade era.

I think the absence of government subsidies for our
agricultural commodities has partly been the cause of our lack of
competitiveness in the global economy.

Popie, 29, works for a private company in South Jakarta. She
lives in Tangerang with her family:

To be honest, I only know what WTO stands for and have no idea
of its deeper meaning.

It would be far better to improve economic conditions first
before entering the global market.

The best thing would be a commitment from our government to
curb illegal logging, rampant corruption, and, most importantly,
security.

How can we expect other countries to treat us fairly if we
cannot cope with our own internal problems?

Victor, 23, is a store manager at Ambasador shopping mall in
South Jakarta. He lives in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, with his
family:

Frankly, I have no idea what the WTO is. What's it all about?

If it's all about trading, well, we can see that our economic
situation is far from satisfactory.It seems that our economy is
stagnant, as it never gets any better from one year to the next.

Under such circumstances I just wonder how we can dare to
assure the world that our economy is worthy of consideration.

I think it would be better for us to develop trading
opportunities through neighboring countries as our target market.

Leo Wahyudi S