Soeharto reconfirms APEC summit attendance

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has confirmed with the Canadian government that he will attend the Fifth Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vancouver next month.

This was actually a reconfirmation that he would attend, because he said last month that he would go to Vancouver even though he might face demonstrations against Indonesia.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said that the President had also pledged the government's full support for the success of the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting.

"The President confirmed his presence at the summit, and pointed out that the meeting would not only be useful for Indonesia and Canada but also for people in the Asia-Pacific region," Moerdiono said after meeting with President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

Moerdiono accompanied Soeharto in receiving Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien's special envoy Leonard Edwards who submitted an official invitation for the summit. Edwards was flanked by Canadian Ambassador Gary J. Smith.

Edwards said the meeting would be held on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25.

"The President believes that my prime minister will be a good host," Edwards remarked.

APEC comprises 18 countries and economic powers in the Asia- Pacific region, including Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, China, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Papua New Guinea, and economic powers like Hong Kong and Taiwan. Hong Kong was returned to China in July this year.

The first summit was held on Blake Island, the U.S., in 1993, then in Bogor, West Java, in 1994, in Osaka, Japan, in 1995, and in Manila, the Philippines, last year.

When asked whether the summit would also discuss the currency crisis, Edwards said: "I think the issue will be reflected in the leaders meeting... but this decision totally depends on the leaders to decide."

In their meeting in Bogor in 1994, the leaders pledged their commitment to create a free trade area in the region by the year 2020. Advanced countries are expected to completely dismantle their trade barriers in 2010 in a nonbinding basis.

The leaders said in Manila last year that they were enthusiastic about the group's astonishing economic power. The 18 countries constitute nearly half of the world's population. At US$16 trillion they take in 55 percent of global income, and they represent more than 40 percent of world trade.

In a meeting with APEC Business Advisory Council members from Indonesia last month, Soeharto said he would attend the summit even though East Timor activists would likely hold demonstrations against Indonesia.

"The President smilingly said that he was regarded as a murderer by anti-Indonesia people there," Bustanil Arifin quoted Soeharto as saying during their meeting. (prb)