Taiwan not invited to A-A Business Summit

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government of Taiwan will not be invited to attend the Asia- Africa Business Summit although as an economic entity it regularly attended major economic conferences such the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the organizer and a government official said.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) to convene the Business Summit, avoiding possible actions that might create sensitivities for any country," the ministry's secretary general Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

He said the ministry encouraged Kadin to hold the Business Summit with a view to foster and promote business relations among countries in the two continents.

"Let the event stay with business matters, not politics," he said, adding that representatives from Taiwan's private sector would still be welcomed to observe the April 21 and April 22 event.

Sudjadnan acknowledged that Taiwan as an economic entity had great potential to boost the economies in the two continents, particularly in Africa, through trade and investment.

Kadin will host the Business Summit where about 500 CEOs and business leaders from both continents will meet and hopefully explore business opportunities.

Kadin chairman MS Hidayat told the Post that only participants of the Asia-Africa Summit would be invited to the Business Summit.

"The Business Summit is part of the Asia-Africa Summit held by the government. Thus, it is the government who made the invitations and Taiwan is not on the list," he said.

However, Kadin does not deny the advanced trade relationships between Indonesia and Taiwan.

"If Taiwan's private sector want to come as observers, we would welcome them," he said.

Taiwan has neither an embassy in Jakarta nor an official diplomatic relationship with Indonesia.

China, the world's most populous nation and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, says Taiwan is still part of the country and strongly opposes any country trying to establish diplomatic ties with its "renegade province".

Due to its cordial diplomatic ties with China, the Indonesian government has adopted a 'One China' policy.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the Business Summit on April 21. In the evening Kadin will host a gala dinner where China's President Hu Jintao is scheduled to give the keynote speech.

The Business Summit will facilitate countries to become acquainted with each other, therefore the organizers have invited Japan, China, India, Singapore and South Korea, which have emerged as the locomotives of economic growth in the region.

Among the key speakers in the Business Summit are South African President Thabo M. Mbeki, Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong and Japan's PM Junichiro Koizumi.

Officials here will also host a series of events, including a ministerial meeting on April 20, the Asia-Africa Summit from April 22 to April 23 in Jakarta, and the golden jubilee that commemorated the 1955 Asia-Africa Summit on April 24 in Bandung.