Pinoy Weekly | Dateline: Bali

Posted: 02 Dec 2013 01:27 AM PST Because of the need to report on economic and trade-related issues as they impact the peoples of the world, Pinoy Weekly is now in Bali, Indonesia to cover the 9th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on December 3 to 6, 2013. This page will serve as our news blog, covering both the ministerial conference in the plush and heavily militarized Nusa Dua Convention Center as well as the parallel activities designed as counterpoint to the meeting, namely the People’s Global Camp, sponsored by the Indonesian People’s Alliance (IPA) in Ngurah Sai Sports Center in Denpasar, Bali. WTO is the international organization that oversees trade negotiations between governments and the multilateral trade system. But critics have been criticizing the organization — many are even calling for its junking — for its undemocratic processes dominated by developed countries, primarily the United States, which through various means influence the negotiations for its own benefit and at the expense of the impoverished countries. * * * 2 December 2013 QUITE THE TALKER. Keith Rockwell, WTO director for information and external relations division. (Boy Bagwis) In his first press briefing a day before the official start of WTO 9th Ministerial Conference here in Bali, Indonesia, WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell addressed issues facing the upcoming negotiations, including the much-criticized “Bali package“. Rockwell admitted that forging an agreement within the conference is crucial to the existence of the multilateral trade system, and that “there is no Plan B” for the WTO should talks fail — as they have failed many times before. A member of the Front Mahasiswa Nasional (FMN), a large youth organization in Indonesia, unfurls the banner of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) in a protest action against the World Trade Organization. The students protested near the US consulate today, criticizing the US government for forcing poor countries to accept liberalization policies and other neoliberal policies that favor US businesses while virtually killing local industries of the the poor countries. (Boy Bagwis) Meanwhile, near the US consulate in Bali, more than a hundred students marched, unfurling banners and flags that condemn the WTO and the dominant force behind it — the US government. Youth members of the Front Mahasiswa Nasional (FMN), which is one of the biggest youth organizations in Indonesia, declared their intention to take part in the various expressions of resistance against the WTO, including the People’s Global Camp (PGC) to be held in Ngurah Sai Sports Center in Denpasar, Bali at the same time as the ministerial conference. “We are joining the growing people’s resistance against the WTO as we demand that the youth and the people’s interests, not neo-liberal policies, be made priority by national governments like the Indonesian government,” said Sandy Ame, FMN general secretary. FMN also decried the removal by the WTO of the accreditation of some of its members who were earlier accepted as nongovernment organization (NGO) observers to the ministerial meeting. According to the group, on afternoon of November 30, L. Muh. Hasan Harry Sandy Ame, general secretary of FMN, went to Hotel Santika to collect the registration badges for him and his three other colleagues. There they were denied their badges. After pressing for answers, FMN’s Ame was eventually met by four representatives of Indonesia’s foreign and trade ministries who said that (1) “FMN’s platform and framework of the WTO run counter to each other”; (2) FMN “poses a security risk to the WTO”; and (3) FMN is “not legally registered as an organization in Indonesia.” “Clearly, the FMN, despite having critical view of the WTO, wants to join in the WTO debate inside the ministerial. It is part of the Indonesian civil society that wants to be involved in the process and lobby with other sectors and interest groups to governments for a human rights-based and people-centered trade framework. Is this what the Indonesian government scared of?” lamented Ahmed SH, spokesperson of the Indonesian People’s Alliance (IPA), of which FMN is a member. IPA is sponsoring a People’s Global Camp as a counterpoint to the WTO ministerial meeting, to be held on December 3 to 6 at Ngurah Sai Sports Center, Denpasar, Bali. Updates by KR Guda & Boy Bagwis More photos of the FMN protest action here. For more updates, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.