RI APPOINTED ASEAN COOPERATIVES' IT LEADER

Jakarta, July 3 (ANTARA) - Indonesia has been appointed an IT Leader nation and given a specialization as an IT, e-commerce, agriculture and animal husbandry state in the ASEAN Cooperative Business Forum in Malaysia.

"The Indonesian Cooperatives got specialization in IT, e-commerce, agriculture, and animal husbandry in the ASEAN Cooperative Business Forum," Soeryo Bawono, secretary general of the Farmer and Fishermen Cooperative Association (Inkoptan), said here on Friday.

The ASEAN Cooperative Business Forum (ACBF) as part of the ASEAN Center of Development Agricultural Cooperatives (ACEDAC) was held in Penang, Malaysia, June 29 to July 3, 2009, he said.

The ACBF discussed among other things efforts to face the ASEAN market integration by 2014.

In the meeting, all ASEAN member countries agreed to share specialization of working fields for each country, he said.

"For instance, Indonesia is specialized in IT, Malaysia in plantation, and Thailand in agriculture," he said.

Through the forum and the consensus, cooperatives in ASEAN could grow and develop without having to kill each other in the ASEAN single market in the future, he said.

The ASEAN market integration by 2014 would be anticipated in by commodity and main product specification of each member country, he said.

"Hopefully, there will be no unhealthy competition which could kill fellow ASEAN member countries," he said.

Cooperatives in Indonesia under the coordination of Inkoptan, which is also a member of the Indonesian Cooperative Council, would design a website communication and synergy among ASEAN cooperatives, he said.

He hoped the appointment of Indonesia as a leader in the e-commerce and IT system could encourage Indonesia's cooperatives in mastering information technology.

"While for the agricultural sector, we promote organic paddy, herbal, milk and its derivative products," he said.

ASEAN groups Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.