REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - An economic observer said advanced nations among the members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) could use the regional economic forum to expand their market. The government must play important role to prevent it.  

"APEC favors free trade and under a liberal system a country would always thinks of benefit in dealing with other countries," Teguh Boediyana of the Indonesians Cooperatives Council (Dekopin) said on Wednesday.

APEC would remain a forum defending trade liberalization under which member countries would rely on their competitive strength for survival, Teguh said. The government, therefore, should continue to watch and prevent APEC from being used to serve more the interest of the big powers among its members. 

Therefore, Indonesia must emerge to be a strong country in bargaining power position especially Indonesia in fact has big potentials with its huge domestic market and abundant natural resources. 

"Then the question is if we are really ready to go to the center of trade liberalization and face those countries, now?" he queried. 

Yet, he doubted Indonesia had used its potentials to face trade liberalization in APEC. Indonesia had no concept to strengthen its real sector while other countries like Korea, Japan, and Thailand had long developed effective concepts to strengthen their real sector to make use of any opportunity in the process of globalization and liberalization, he said.

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