Southwest Pacific Forum

Southwest Pacific Forum

In Singapore in 2000, then president Abdurrahman Wahid, caught people by surprise with the proposal to set up a Southwest Pacific Dialog (SwPD).

A meeting in Yogyakarta on Oct. 5, attended by Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, East Timor and Indonesia and held after intensive studies and consultations as well a seminar involving high-ranking officials of the six countries, welcomed this initiative and approved the establishment of SwPD.

Although the plan to establish SwPD does not entail fanfare at the regional or global level, it is considered a significant breakthrough to create peace, stability and welfare in the South- West Pacific subregion.

The establishment of SwPD is not prompted by a crisis but a forward-looking vision for a better future through dialog and interaction in the South-West Pacific subregion.

SwPD will not overlap with ASEAN, APEC or other regional cooperation forums; instead, it will complement and reinforce them.

Member states of SwPD will work together to build their economy, marine sector and the environment and fight against trans-border crimes and terrorism.

SwPD must strive to make itself something like the European Union, a regional organization successfully turning continental Europe, frequently the arena for bitter wars, into a region of peace and economic progress, or like ASEAN, which has brought peace to South-East Asia and is now trying to integrate its economic activities through AFTA in 2003. -- Kompas, Jakarta