REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- In a matter of days Indonesia would enter the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). 10 ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, would have a single market, providing a space open to the flow of goods, capital and labor.

Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs AAGN Puspayoga said, Indonesian people, especially SMEs do not need to afraid of AEC. AEC, according to him, is not a free trade but cooperation which gives Indonesia a great opportunity.

"AEC is not free trade, but a mutually beneficial relationship," he said, Sunday (20/12).

The mutual cooperation was believed to be the main prerequisite formation of the implementation of AEC. So that there would not be a single nation who feel pressure.

Moreover, Indonesia has become one of the largest base in AEC. 42 percent of consumers or users of goods and services in Asean was in Indonesia. To face AEC, the government has prepared a variety of ways including lower interest rates of People's Business Credit.

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