RI could become major business player

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia could become a major business player in the Asia-Pacific if its rapid economic growth continued, a senior executive of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) executive said yesterday.

ICC secretary-general Maria Livanos Cattaui said Indonesia's rapid growth in the last 10 years indicated it had the potential to become one of the region's most powerful trading nations.

Speaking at the end of her three-day visit, Cattaui said Indonesia's success in developing its economy in the past years was one reason she visited Indonesia.

She said the remarkable development in Indonesia and other ASEAN nations had become ICC's focus, which used to concentrate only on Europe.

ASEAN nations had become important ICC constituencies.

ASEAN's groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

"Since its establishment in 1919, ICC has been focusing on the economies of European countries, but the ASEAN region has become the most dynamic part of the world economically," she said.

Besides promoting economic growth Indonesia should be able distribute it's wealth more equally.

"Most importantly, businesses must be aware of their potential responsibility and strength," she said, adding that businesses has a much bigger role than the government in determining a country's economic progress.

Indonesia's economy has grown by between 7 and 8 percent a year in the last five years.

Other challenges facing Indonesia includes the uncertainty of its laws, especially those regarding trade and the implementation of the new intellectual property rights law.

Cattaui left Jakarta for Hong Kong yesterday, after meeting chairman of Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Aburizal Bakrie and ICC national committee chairman Hashim Djojohadikusumo.

She will visit the new branch of ICC in Bangkok.

ICC groups thousands of companies of all size in over 130 countries. (02)