Soeharto to press for better economic deal through APEC

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto said yesterday he would use the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meeting here in November to press for a fairer economic deal from industrialized countries.

Industrialized countries should stop making policies that hurt the economic development of developing countries including Indonesia, Soeharto said when addressing visiting members of the ruling Golkar at his ranch in Tapos.

Also present were Golkar chairman Harmoko, deputy chairman Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and Minister of Agriculture Sjarifuddin Baharsjah.

The APEC meeting would be an appropriate forum for Indonesia to press for a fairer deal in the international economic order because the meeting brings together both industrialized and developing countries, the president said.

"We aren't asking much," he said. "We want a fair deal that allows us to become a new industrialized country," he told the Golkar members who had just completed a congress on farming and fishery.

Soeharto will host the second APEC leadership meeting in November which will be held immediately after the group's annual ministerial meeting. The group's members include the United States and Japan.

In the APEC meeting, Indonesia will make it clear that developing countries will no longer be willing to play a supplementary role in the forum, Soeharto said.

Citing an example of how developing countries are always a loser when dealing with industrialized countries, he said the monetary policy boosting the value of yen against U.S. dollar had often been a heavy blow for Indonesia.

Adverse effects

Indonesia borrows in yen and obtains dollar from exports. "Once we had to make available an extra US$2 billion in one year alone because of the yen appreciation," the President said.

The U.S. trade wars against Japan and Europe also have had adverse effects on the Indonesian economy, he said. "All member countries should lay a foundation for mutually beneficial cooperation," he added.

Soeharto said if industrialized nations did not disturb its growth, Indonesia could become a newly industrialized country like Singapore by the year 2000.

"Give developing countries a chance to grow and don't disturb them at least until the year 2000," he said.

During a question and answer session, Soeharto said he opposed a proposal that Golkar turn to state-owned companies for funds to develop small-scale entrepreneurs.

He said what the organization could provide letters of reference for its members to obtain credits from the bank.

The President said the poverty among farmers was not a result of faulty government development policies as critics allege.

The problem stems from the tradition among parents to divide their land among their children, no matter the size of the property, he argued.

He said there are about 11 million poor farmers, including six million whose land holding is only between 2,500 to 5,000 square meters.(pan)