Mahathir, Soeharto likely to discuss APEC issues

JAKARTA (JP): The leadership meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is likely to be discussed when Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad meets with President Soeharto this weekend, an official says.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono told reporters yesterday that the preparations for the APEC meeting in Bogor this November would be the focus of discussions between the two leaders.

Mahathir is scheduled to make an unofficial visit tomorrow and Saturday in keeping with a tradition among leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to hold periodic consultations. He will be accompanied by Mrs. Mahathir, Foreign Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Defense Minister Najib Razak.

The prime minister is also scheduled to address an international conference on human resources development organized by the Jakarta-based Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES). The conference was opened by President Soeharto last night.

Mahathir stayed away from the first APEC leadership meeting in Seattle, the United States, last November complaining that Washington, which then led the forum, was trying to institutionalize APEC and exert its influence over other members.

The prime minister has agreed to attend the second leadership meeting hosted by Soeharto in nearby Bogor in November.

Malaysia has been pushing for the establishment of an all Asian economic grouping that will include economic giants Japan and South Korea along with ASEAN countries. But the idea, which has been opposed by the United States, failed to garner support even from some ASEAN countries.

Compromise

As a compromise, ASEAN agreed to make the proposed group, called the East Asia Economic Caucus, as a forum within APEC. But even this idea has not been sold to Japan and South Korea.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas told reporters on a separate occasion yesterday that the proposal of ASEAN leaders meeting before the APEC leadership meeting has not been agreed by all the leaders concerned so far.

ASEAN foreign ministers in their last meeting in Bangkok agreed to recommend their leaders have one meeting ahead of the APEC talks, Alatas said.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Soeharto is scheduled to meet with Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong later this month in Indonesia.

Alatas said another probable agenda in the talks between Soeharto and Mahathir will be the resolution of the conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia over the ownership of the Sipadan and Ligitan Isles off East Kalimantan.

The latest round of talks to resolve the dispute broke down in Jakarta last week with Malaysia demanding an international arbitration while Indonesia insisted the matter could still be resolved bilaterally, or if not, through the ASEAN mechanism. (emb)