Part 2 of 2: The challenge of security for the world economy

Part 2 of 2: The challenge of security for the world economy

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Santiago

Fourth, is the challenge of promoting security for all.

Security can sometimes be a zero sum game, but it does not
always have to be that way. Governments must take care to ensure
that its quest for security does not lead to the insecurity of
others. On the contrary, we must strive to achieve an
international condition where the enhancement of one's security
also leads to the security of others.

No one country can achieve security by locking itself and
insulating others. Just like we cannot have a world where
prosperity is segregated, nor can we have a community of nations
where security is enjoyed only by some. The world economy must
spread prosperity and security for all.

Promoting "security for all" has a deeper dimension: That is,
security for individuals. Governments must ensure not just
security of the state but also human security, that is, the
safety of individuals within the state. It is not sufficient
that the state is secure if some of its citizens insecure,
unsafe, and unprotected.

Fifth, is the challenge of promoting greater inter-changes and
openness. Of course, in this uncertain and dangerous world,
there is a definite need to control access into one's borders.
But if we seriously intend to unite the world in peace and
progress, we will need more, not less, inter-changes across
borders and oceans. We need to exchange our students, our
teachers, our business actors, our artists, our religious
figures, our politicians, our NGOs, our tourists, our citizens.
We need to keep the gates closed for criminals and terrorists,
but we need to keep it wide open for the creative and productive
forces of society.

The world economy must therefore ensure, for its own good,
that measures to promote greater security also produce greater
inter-changes between the peoples of the world.

The sixth challenge is promoting tolerance building. In this
restless world where the factors of ethnicity and religion are
becoming more prominent, we have to redefine the concept of
"security" and the concept of "development" so as to include
tolerance building.

Yes, it is important to promote and defend freedom. But in my
view it is even more important to promote tolerance, for without
it freedom can become twisted and warped. Many problems of
security can be traced to ignorance and a lack of tolerance. A
more tolerant society is often more secure, and thereby more free
and able to pursue their development goals. This is why
Indonesia and Australia are jointly sponsoring an inter-faith
dialogue next month in Yogyakarta, Indonesia to facilitate a
constructive discourse between religious leaders from various
countries.

I have explained what I think are the security challenges for
the world economy. Yet, at this CEO Summit, what I am really
interested in is the question of what business leaders,that is,
all of you, can do to promote a more peaceful world.

Here is how I believe the movers and shakers of the business
world can do their part to help our mutual goal of strengthening
security and prosperity.

First, you can help the world deal with globalization better.
As the engine of this globalized world, the business community
can help us better understand, accept and embrace globalization.

You can help us preventing globalization from becoming
something that divides, marginalizes, and de-humanizes.

You can help see to it that globalization does not pit us into
conflict, but instead can become a tool for empowerment:
Empowerment of the poor, empowerment of local communities,
empowerment of minority groups.

You can help turn globalization into a positive force, one
that can bring governments and businesses to join hands rather
than to confront one another.

By doing this, you will help the world tackle the root causes
of terrorism, which often take the forms of poverty, alienation,
ignorance and injustice.

How do you do this? Well, you can start, as the saying goes,
by "walking the talk". That means developing good corporate
social responsibility. For trust to develop between businesses
and local, if not global, communities, there must be a mutually
reciprocal relationship. The community must feel that commercial
entities give back as much as they take, and help them in their
time of need. This can mean lending a hand to educational
programs, or making sure that your enterprise does not endanger
the environmental health of the community. Paying attention to
your community's well-being can simply mean the difference
between conflict and harmony.

Corporations can also be more generous in sharing their
technology. Part of the discontent with globalization stems from
a sense of inequity, exploitation, and a growing social gap.
Almost half of the world's population lives on less than $2 a
day. Amongst many of these communities, almost half of all their
children are malnourished.

Let's reverse this deplorable statistic. Let's help the UN
accomplish its mission of halving the numbers of people
struggling on less than a dollar a day.

Companies can do their part by closing the gap, in concrete
terms, sharing some of the knowledge that has led them to good
fortune. Much of this technology -- be it hardware or software
-- does eventually become common knowledge anyway, adopted by
the mainstream. Bringing about this learning curve earlier to
local communities can prompt a reserve of goodwill that is
immeasurable in terms of numbers.

If you want your investment to serve you well, you must also
invest in people. You must help communities boost their human
resources, providing training programs, scholarships, and other
educational opportunities. You must address the public's
perception that globalization is turning societies into unskilled
labor forces. You must convince them that a more educated and
skilled workforce is as much your objective as it is theirs.

Corporations are regarded by most of the population as a
wellspring of wealth. Hence it is your responsibility to
transform this perceived "plenty" into "opportunity" for those
around you. Corporations are in a strategic place to bridge this
great divide between poverty and prosperity -- make the most of
that opportunity, and you may just see this prosperity become
even greater.

So this is my message to all of you: Let us join hands, let us
partner with one another -- governments hand in hand with the
private sector -- to promote security and prosperity.

Let us do our best to think of and realize solutions that will
make our families safer, our economies prosper, and our countries
secure.

This is an abridged text of keynote address given by
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the APEC-CEO summit on
Saturday, Nov. 20, 2004.