Local governments hold APEC conference

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)