APEC - Deeper economic links will prevent conflict: Indonesia

HONOLULU, Hawaii: Asia-Pacific nations must deepen trade and other links to forestall potential conflicts as new powers rise and countries scramble for dwindling resources, Indonesia's leader said Saturday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono praised the emergence of several regional groupings that promote economic, diplomatic and cultural ties, but also warned that the potential for conflict should not be ignored.

"We are fortunate that for the first time in a long time relations among the major powers are marked by peace, stability and coopeation," he told business leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Honolulu.

"But new power centers are growing rapidly, and power relationships are changing and becoming much more fluid," said Yudhoyono, a retired army general who leads Southeast Asia's biggest country.

"It is pertinent that these emerging power relationships do not lead to new strategic tensions, destabilization or greater risk, or -- worse -- new conflicts," he added.

Yudhoyono did not mention any countries, but China has taking steps to project its influence in the region as its economy rapidly grows.

The United States is hoping to use the APEC summit, along with parallel work on a trade deal, to show that it is increasingly committed to Asia as it winds down its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yudhoyono said that deeper regional partnerships were important in keeping a "dynamic equilibrium" in the future.

"In the coming decades the scramble for resources will be certain to intensify," he said, noting that Asia's energy demand will rise 30 per cent by 2030 and global food production must be increased 70 per cent to meet demand by 2050.

"Water will become more scarce. The quest by nations to find, secure, expand and sustain their development resources will define the Asia-Pacific century," he said.

- AFP/fa


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