SBY Set to Open WTO Conference in Bali

Jakarta Globe, Novy Lumanauw & Markus Junianto Sihaloho, December 2, 2013

A worker checks a chair in the plenary hall of the World Trade Organization
 Ministerial Conference venue in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Dec. 1, 2013. The island will
host the ninth WTO Ministerial Conference this week. (EPA Photo/Made Nagi).

Presidential spokesperson Julian Aldrin Pasha confirmed that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be opening the ninth World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Bali this week.

“The president will be opening the WTO conference, which will be attended by trade ministers from 167 countries. The president will be leaving for Bali on Tuesday,” Julian said on Sunday.

An estimated 10,000 delegations from across the globe will be attending the conference, where Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan will lead discussions on global trade issues.

According to reports by the Indonesian news agency Antara, thousands of police officers have been deployed to secure the WTO conference, which is scheduled to run from Tuesday until Friday.

“The Bali Police will be preparing everyone to secure the WTO [conference],” Bali Police operational chief Sr. Comr. I Gede Alit Widana said on Sunday, declining to specify the number of officers tasked to secure the event.

Aside from the Bali Police, security measures on the island will also be aided by police units from West, Central, and East Java, all of which will help with security convoys, intelligence activities, technical issues and counterterrorism measures, among others.

“The National Police will also help with security. Security activities will be carried out from Dec. 1 to 7,” he said.

Alit also said the police would be anticipating activities by entities who oppose the conference.

“There are activities [by groups] who are looking to disrupt the WTO,” he said, adding that several international and local organizations have been given permits to hold discussion forums to oppose the event.

The forum, he said, will be held at the Ngurah Rai gymnasium in Denpasar and will be attended by 800 people.

Those participating in the discussion, however, will not be allowed to enter the Bali Tourism Development Corporation area in Nusa Dua, where the WTO conference will take place.

“They are not allowed to enter Nusa Dua over concerns there would be a clash,” Alit explained. “We are doing our best to secure the WTO and make sure the event progresses well and safely.”

Among those who have voiced concerns over the WTO conference is Gunawan, chief executive of the Indonesian Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS), who questioned whether the WTO conference would be in line with values supporting peace, justice and order in the world.

“Or is it, rather, Indonesia that is being held down for the sake of domination and control by Western countries, monopoly by transnational corporations and the liberalization of agriculture, human resources as well as trade,” Gunawan said in Jakarta on Friday.

Members of the G33 group of developing nations led by India are demanding changes to the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture so that they can offer greater subsidies to farmers.

According to the agreement, subsidies cannot total over 10 percent of production.

Gunawan emphasized that Indonesia should reject moves to minimize agriculture and fisheries subsidies and the liberalization of food imports.

He added that discussions surrounding agriculture issues in the WTO should be put to an end.