SUNS  4325 Tuesday 17 November 1998


Trade: NGOs call for alternatives to APEC's Free Trade path



Kuala Lumpur, Nov 16 (IPS/Kalinga Seneviratne) -- On the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, activists and non-government organisations are calling on Asian leaders to rethink the thrust towards trade liberalisation.

About 500 NGO representatives from across Asia, who are witnessing the economic and social difficulties resulting from the regional financial meltdown, are urging their own governments to go slow on the free trade agenda.

"We fought and won against colonialism," said Irene Fernandez, Director of the Malaysian NGO, Tenaganita, in her opening address to the Asia-Pacific People's Assembly which ended on Sunday.

Now, the fight is against globalisation, she stated, adding that "the new imperialist forces" are disguised as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which lend money to "facilitate foreign investments and to pave way for capital to use our resources and our people".

Fernandez describes this type of economics as anti-people and argues that global capital has formed cartels and are trying to consolidate their power through "fluid relationships like APEC", which meets to "only perpetuate and intensify market liberalization and capital accumulation".

This view is echoed by many other NGOs from the region who gathered in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur ahead of the two-day APEC summit which opens on Tuesday.

"When you talk of de-regulation, it's free for capitalists but not for the poor," said Weeraphon Sopa of the Forum of the Poor of Thailand told IPS.

He points out that industrial agriculture and the patenting of seeds under the WTO's Intellectual Property Rights regime are two major concerns of his group. While industrial agriculture may provide jobs for the people, it is cheap labour, he argues, adding that it takes away the people's freedom to produce their own food.

"Governments in the South must promote small scale agriculture. It's fair to the people," says Sopa, adding that patenting of seeds by multinational companies would have a devastating impact on the ability of Thai farmers to grow their own food.

"We would like our government to talk about this and make it a major issue at the APEC meeting," he says.

Sarojeni Rengam of the Malaysia based Pesticide Action Network argues that industrial agriculture has made women in Asia worse off. "Women are now worse off as farm workers; where once they were decision makers and active participants, women are now being increasingly pushed into the informal sector, undertaking jobs such as weeding."

Many NGOs warn that the APEC-led free trade policies are threatening food security at the household level, and national food scarcities are being met with food imports.

In a paper presented to the meeting, a representative from an Indonesian NGO told of how economic de-regulation has undermined his country's self-sufficiency in rice production.

Mary Lou Alcid, executive director of the Manila-based Centre for Migrant Workers say the current economic situation is ripe for exploitation of labour.

"Now more than ever, migrant workers have become a disposable factor in production. The violation and abuses against migrants are exacerbated by the absolute deregulation of the labour industry," she says.

"Trade in human labour in various forms, including trafficking in women and children, is now one of the most profitable, but exploitative, industries in the region."

Fernandez also lashed out at the hundreds of Western billionaires, who had allegedly created a "global casino economy" by exploiting Third World countries through deregulation.

This is one area where the NGOs have a common stance with Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who vowed to take this issue at the APEC meeting. "We cannot miss one international forum and let it go without our bringing to their attention the problem raised by currency speculation," he said in an interview.

"If we don't voice this out, others will continue with whatever plans they have without thinking about their adverse consequences on developing countries," said Mahathir, who in September imposed currency controls to prevent speculation.

However, this seems to be the only issue where the NGOs are in agreement with Mahathir.

"When he (Mahathir) talks about global injustices, he agrees with us, but at the national level, he is not only unconcerned about domestic injustices, he happens to be the perpetuator of these injustices," remarked Chandra Muzzafar, president of the International Movement for a Just World.

Fernandez points out that the problem with Mahathir's pro-Third World posturing is that "while he champions the cause of the Third World and condemns the super-powers, he acts exactly like them on the local level".

Elizabeth Wong of the Malaysian human rights watchdog, Suaram, says the group supported Mahathir's criticism of the West. "We support him all the way there but we want him to give equal attention to human rights issues in Malaysia as well as in the region."