RI urges teamwork to solve fiscal snag

RI urges teamwork to solve fiscal snag

UNITED NATIONS (AP): No nation is immune from the economic turmoil that brought down an Indonesian president and prompted some of the worst riots in that country's history, the Indonesian foreign affairs minister said Thursday.

"The threat of a worldwide recession, even possibly a global depression, is real," Ali Alatas told members of the General Assembly gathered to discuss the pros and cons of global economic interdependence. "In the ultimate analysis, no country is safe from the hazards of globalization."

The two-day conference that began Thursday focused on the social and economic impact of the world's increasingly intertwined and interdependent economies.

Many speeches from U.N. officials and representatives of poorer countries urged industrialized nations to remember that they shared responsibility for the crises hitting the developing world. The industrial world reaped the benefits of developing nations' initial quick growth, they said.

"The contagion effect of every financial and economic crisis in every country and in every region will always threaten the financial and economic stability of every other country and region," Alatas said.

The collapse of Indonesia's currency last summer was part of an Asian financial crisis whose effects have spread across the globe, sparking riots in Indonesia and causing stock markets to gyrate wildly in Asia, Europe and the Americas. The latest victim has been Russia, where the plunging value of the ruble has rocked the government.

"As the world contemplates these events, some are questioning the desirability of free markets, and the increasing interdependence of national economies," said Brian Atwood, administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development.

However, he cautioned, the problems of the day shouldn't be allowed to define globalized economies. "The benefits still vastly outweigh the costs," he said.

Echoing those sentiments, Alatas said lessons can be drawn from financial crises, but solving the problems takes teamwork.

"Globalization is by no means an evil force but it is a blind one," he said. "Like the winds of change in the ocean of history, it can shipwreck us or carry us to our intended destination.

"The developed and developing countries are all in the same boat. Our fate depends on how well we work as a team in trimming the sails," he said.