What does Indonesia get out of the APEC forum?

JAKARTA (JP): Behind the glamor of the international publicity for chairing the APEC and its conferences, what does Indonesia get out of the forum?

That appears to be the question which many laymen, and some politicians, are asking nowadays as the APEC conferences are dominating television news and newspaper headlines every day.

Anyone looking for tangible benefits from APEC and its conferences can probably forget it. The conferences produce simply statements, communiques and declarations, charting the forum's direction and the future of the Asia-Pacific region.

Even if they are of any substance, they are not binding, for that's the way APEC works.

The benefits of APEC for Indonesia are not tangible but they are clear.

The Asia-Pacific region, of which Indonesia is part, has been, and will remain to be, the main source of Indonesia's economic growth.

The region has seen the fastest economic growth rates in the last decade which have become the envy of the rest of the world. Even the United States, which in the past has turned to its allies in Europe across the Atlantic for trade and investment, is now looking across the Pacific Ocean.

The statistics also show that Indonesia's economic future lies in the Asia- Pacific region.

More than 70 percent of Indonesia's exports go to the region, with Japan and the United States being the largest markets. The importance of the Asia-Pacific market rises, not declines, even as Indonesia is expanding the range of its exports away from petroleum and other natural resources to manufactured goods.

About 60 percent of Indonesia's imports come from the region, again Japan and the United States playing leading roles.

More than half of private foreign investments in Indonesia come from Asia- Pacific countries. Japan is the largest and American companies help run Indonesia's oil industry. South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong are making inroads too.

And last but not least, Japan and the United States are the main sources of foreign aid for Indonesia.

Looking beyond the statistics, hundreds of thousands or probably millions of Indonesians, directly or indirectly depend on the Asia-Pacific, for their jobs, their children's education and welfare.

This should put beyond doubt why Indonesia's participation, and its chairmanship, in APEC is important. (emb)