Soeharto to press for better economic deal through APEC

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)