Taiwan not invited to A-A Business Summit
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.