LA.
COMUNIDAD DEL PAciFICO EN PERSPECfIVA
I
F: OTTego Vicuíia
For example, with a more stable Southeast Asia, Japan'seconomic
future is more secured for this would alleviate potential distur–
bances in Japan's economic lifelines. Similarly, Australia and Papua
New Guinea would feel more secure with greater stability in South–
east Asia, especially in Indonesia.
3.
INDONESIA IN THE P ACIFIC COMMUNITY: AN ECONOMIC
PERSPECTIVE
The role Indonesia plays in the Asia-Pacific region economically
can easily be discerned from looking at the statistics on the direc–
tion and nature of its international trade as well as the figures on
the flows of capital resources, especially foreign direct investment.
Indonesia wishes to increase its contribution
to
and benefit from
greater economic interactions with the Asia-Pacific region largely
within the framework of economic cooperation among the
ASEAN
countries. This subject will not be elaborated here because it is
discussed in another paper presented to this conference.
Of relevance here would be Indonesia's view on the idea of de–
veloping an Asia-Pacific Community, an idea which recently
h~s
attracted considerable attention in the various countries of this
region.
Indonesia was not interested in joining the so-called Pacific Ba–
sin Community which was launched a few years ago by the private
sector of the industrial countries in this region, resulting in "a rich–
men club", for it did not take into account the interests of the de–
veloping countries in the region.
Policy makers in Indonesia did not see the urgency of actively
pursuing the Pacific Community idea, let alone to have a clear
view of its realization in institutional terms. At this stage, therefore,
the idea of a Pacific Community will have to be approached and
initiated at an informal level. Non-official meetings, with the in–
volvement of officials in their private capacity, can pave the way
towards developing and shaping this idea more concretely. This
can be supported by working groups to collect and further develop
the results of research and studies on this subject. Such activities
are necessary to support a formal structure of cooperation.
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