TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Giants exert clout at APEC
The better halves: Wives of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum pose for a photograph as they visit the Bali Safari & Marine Park in Bali on Monday
Change Size
T
span class="inline inline-center">The better halves: Wives of leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum pose for a photograph as they visit the Bali Safari & Marine Park in Bali on Monday. They are (left to right) Regina Tong Ching-yi of Hong Kong; Akie Abe of Japan; Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor of Malaysia; Cecilia Morel of Chile; Indonesian First Lady Ani Yudhoyono; Peng Liyuan of China; Ho Ching of Singapore; Margaret Abbott of Australia; Siew Chu Su-Hsien of Chinese Taipei, and Lynda May Babao of Papua New Guinea. JP/Jerry Adiguna
In their addresses before hundreds of global business chiefs, the leaders of China, Japan, Russia and the US asserted their respective economic influence in the Asia-Pacific region, a region poised to become the epicenter of the world's economic growth.
China's President Xi Jinping, who amused the audience with his poetic turns on Monday, said that China would remain the driver of the region's growth and eased concerns over a looming hard landing for the world's second-largest economy.
While warning of a possible 'long and tortuous' recovery in the world economy, Xi believed that China's economic growth rate of about 7 percent was within a reasonable and expected range. 'The Chinese economy will sustain its sound growth,' said Xi during the last session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation's (APEC) CEO Summit.
'China cannot develop in isolation from the Asia-Pacific region, while Asia Pacific cannot prosper without China,' Xi said, adding that China would make structural adjustments to overcome any slowdown.
Xi, who is leading China at a time when its economic expansion has been at its slowest for four years, vowed to reduce its overreliance on exports and investment, planning to transform the economy into a more sustainable consumer-driven growth model.
Indonesia has good reason to worry about a slowdown in China, its largest trading partner. A contraction in China would also slash growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
Xi also underscored China's commitment to maintaining stability in the region, but did not mention the ongoing territorial disputes with Japan, South Korea and several Southeast Asian countries.
'Asia-Pacific is a big family. A family of harmony and prosperity,' Xi said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also pledged to play a greater role in the region, particularly on ensuring sufficient energy supplies. 'We can see that the importance of energy resources for accelerated economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region is growing,' he said.
'We understand our responsibility in this area and, therefore, we plan to expand our cooperation with our partners in Asia.'
Moscow would 'make steps toward the liberalization of the liquefied natural gas trade in the near future', he said in a statement regarded as showing Putin's readiness to challenge the US, which this year dethroned Russia as the world's largest oil and gas producer.
Russia, the world's sixth-largest economy, said that as a token of the seriousness of its engagement in the region, it would help supply gas to China and South Korea.
At present, APEC economies account for 54 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 44 percent of global trade.
With such resources, US Secretary of State John Kerry, who attended the summit in the absence of President Barack Obama, said that his government still deemed multilateral forums such as APEC crucial.
'Foreign policy is now more than ever economic policy. Economic diplomacy is the future,' he said. 'It is clear: we have a stake in each other's success. And that's one of the reasons why multilateral forums are so important.'
Kerry acknowledged that the future of global growth would undoubtedly be centered on the Asia-Pacific region, and reaffirmed US engagement in the region. However, as Obama was a no-show due to the US budget shutdown, the US commitment to its 'Asia pivot' remained in question.
'We see what is happening in US domestic politics and it is not an easy situation. I think the fact that the US president did not come here is quite justified,' Putin said. 'I think that if I was in his situation, I would not come either. Any head of state would do that, probably.'
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is also among the region's leaders sharing the limelight in Obama's absence. Abe used the forum to reassure nations in the region, especially those that suffered colonization and invasion before and during World War II, about Japan's efforts to upgrade its military.
'We are aspiring to become a pro-active contributor to stability and security in the world, and a country that observes international norms,' Abe said. 'Japan is determined to become deeply interlaced with the economies of APEC while sparing no effort to
advance our activities further.'
