Local governments hold APEC conference

JAKARTA (JP): Some 500 delegates from over 18 countries will attend a four-day conference beginning here Monday on "The Role of Local Governments in Implementing the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Declaration."

The conference, at the Horizon Hotel in Ancol, North Jakarta, is being organized by the Asia-Pacific section of International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) and will feature such noted speakers as Minister of Trade Satrio Budiardjo Joedono and Senator H.T. Alvarez of the Philippines.

IULA is a worldwide organization of local governments that was founded in 1913 to promote local government as the cornerstone of democracy and to help strengthen local government as an instrument for socio-economic development.

Indonesia is currently chairman of the IULA's Asia-Pacific section.

IULA's secretary-general and head of the conference's organizing committee, J.H. Siregar, hopes the meeting will help disseminate the results of last year's Bogor Declaration.

"It will be the local governments who will have to carry out APEC in the future," Siregar said.

The APEC forum in Bogor, West Java, issued a declaration expressing their commitment to comprehensive trade liberalization by the year 2010 for the developed countries and 2020 for the developing ones.

"We should tell the local governments what they are going to face," Siregar said.

From the Indonesian side about 175 representatives from various local authorities throughout the country will attend, including nine governors.

At the end of the conference, delegates will issue a joint communique which contains various inputs for the implementation of APEC and the coming leaders meeting in Osaka, Japan, next month. (mds)