APINDO: Prioritize on Domestic Economy before Trans-Pacific
Friday, 18 November, 2011 | 17:20 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Nusa Dua, Bali:Sofjan Wanandi, Chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) has requested the government and businesspeople in the ASEAN region to prioritize on domestic economic growth before opening up to free trade in a larger scale such as the Trans-Pacific trade bloc. “Let’s finish our homework first,” Sofjan said during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday.

Sofjan made the remark in response to statements made by United States President Barack Obama who requested countries in the Asia-Pacific regions to promote the establishment of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc. In addition to the US, countries which have agreed to participated in the new venture Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, and Peru.

Sofjan asserted that ASEAN’s main duty is to prepare businesspeople and government to encounter the establishment of community cooperation in 2015. The initiated and ready-to-implement free trade zone must be seen as a challenge. Infrastructural and government policy reforms are some of the issues which Indonesia still needs to work on. “There is no certainty with regard to land, layout, and regional autonomy policies,” Sofjan added.

RR ARIYANI