REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Global economic power tends to shift from West to East. Asian Economy is predicted to lead the world in the near future. The Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Employers (APINDO), Sofjan Wanandi, reminded countries in the East to strengthen cooperation, mainly on technology, in order to lead the world.
He evaluated that the East was still left behind the western technology. However, East can catch up by conducting interstate cooperation. "Asian countries must cooperate, especially with country with advance technology," Wanandi said in International Business Conference, the Great Convergence of East and West, held by Prasetia Mulya, on Thursday in Jakarta.
The backward technology is seen from Asian consumption -mainly ASEAN countries- towards West technology. The absence of cooperation makes it worse. The price of technological products from Asian developed countries, such as South Korea and Japan, is still high even for the countries within the region.
Professor of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Byungtae Lee, said global economic growth was contributed only by Asian countries after Europe and US were in crisis. Asia, he said, had a chance to dominate global economy.
He also agreed that Asian interstate cooperation was not yet strong. For instance, South Korea has implemented free trade market with US and some countries in Europe while other ASEAN countries have not.
