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