Indonesia against exempting sectors in APEC
Indonesia against exempting sectors in APEC
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is in favor of the liberation of trade and investment in all sectors under the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum's Bogor Declaration and is against the exemption of certain sectors from the agenda, an official said yesterday.
"If several countries want to exempt certain sectors from the agenda, others will want to do the same... In the end, all we will have is an empty basket," said Bintoro Tjokroamidjojo, President Soeharto's special assistant for APEC.
Bintoro made his comments during a panel discussion titled "APEC: From Bogor to Osaka", which was held yesterday by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Other panelists at the meeting were Suhadi Mangkusuwondo, a member of the APEC's Eminent Persons Group and Abdul Rachman Ramly, a member of the APEC's Pacific Business Forum.
Bintoro said Indonesia's stance in supporting free trade in all sectors matched the "comprehensiveness principle" stipulated in APEC's blueprint -- called an "Action Agenda" -- for implementing the Bogor commitments.
He acknowledged that the principle was likely to be among the hurdles faced by APEC leaders in the upcoming APEC meeting in Osaka, Japan, later this month.
APEC's 18 leaders agreed at the 1994 summit in Bogor to aim for overall free trade and investment by 2010 for the forum's developed member countries and by 2020 for its developing members.
Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan, however, have recently begun seeking special treatment for sensitive sectors, such as agriculture, in the 25-year blueprint. This has raised objections from farm exporters such as Australia, the United States, Thailand and New Zealand.
But most of the 18 members say that different treatment for sensitive sectors would undermine last year's agreement.
APEC groups Brunei, Australia, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.
Problems
Suhadi said that apart from the comprehensive framework, other problems the APEC leaders might face at the Osaka summit was the reluctance of industrialized countries to abide by a "concerted unilateral liberalization" scheme.
The scheme, which was proposed by developing economies, allows APEC members to proceed with the Bogor commitments at their own pace, using their individual agendas.
Suhadi said developed countries were uncomfortable with this and preferred to use trade negotiations and legally-binding mechanisms to settle trade timetables.
Another problem which may arise, he said, was the comparability principle, underlined by developed members, to prevent "free riders".
"Developed countries want to make sure the trade and investment guidelines made by developing countries match -- and are comparable with -- theirs," he said.
Commenting on preparations for the Osaka meeting, Bintoro said leaders of APEC member countries would present the initial steps, or "down payments", that they have made since the Bogor summit last November.
Indonesia's down payment, he said, includes the deregulation package issued by the government on May 23.
The package gradually cuts back tariffs on certain commodities up to the maximum level allowed by the World Trade Organization.
"After the Osaka meeting, each country is expected to make their own action plans for trade liberalization," he said.
Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aburizal Bakrie, who attended yesterday's discussion, said that the business sector was ready to face the upcoming free trade era.
But he questioned the readiness of Indonesia's policy makers and government officials, who he said should be staunch supporters of trade liberalization.
"The problem is how we stop the distortions that happen in the business world which are often backed by people in the government and policy makers" he said. (pwn)