REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, AKARTA - Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs Sofyan Djalil said here on Friday that Indonesia's participation in the G20 Summit was very important as not many developing countries enjoyed the privilege.

"The participation of Indonesia as a world economic power is important. Many countries want to attend the Summit, but they cannot. Even Singapore has been received only as an observer," he noted on Friday.

Sofyan stated the G20 forum that was attended by heads of state and financial ministers only discusses investment and global financial systems, which would benefit Indonesia as one of the developing economies. Hence, the proposal to withdraw from the multilateral forum citing the harm done on Indonesia's fisheries sector was not correct, because the sector's problem was bilateral and had nothing to do with the country's participation in the forum.

"The concerns of marine affairs and fisheries minister Susi (Pudjiastuti) must be discussed with our trade partners. The G20 does not address it. Fisheries is not a G20 concern but a bilateral matter," he added.

President Joko Widodo is currently in Australia for the G20 Summit in Brisbane on November 15-16.

Minister Susi Pudjiasti had recently criticized the G20 for hurting Indonesia's interests. While lamenting over the country's role as a non-decision maker in the forum, she urged the G20 members to refrain from introducing regulations that could hurt Indonesia's fisheries sector.

International law professor from state Indonesia University Hikmahanto Juwana, meanwhile, has supported minister Susi's view that Indonesia had better withdraw from the forum and called for President Joko Widodo's attention to the matter.

"What the minister of marine affairs and fisheries has stated must be seriously taken into consideration by President Jokowi (Joko Widodo) if indeed Indonesia's interest has been hurt," he said.

He noted there were three criteria to help Indonesia decide whether or not its membership in the G20 forum was beneficial. The first criteria is whether Indonesia may convey its problems at the forum while the second criteria is whether the problems that G20 deals with represent those faced by developing countries like Indonesia, and the third criteria is whether the G20 forum will accommodate the interests of Indonesia and other developing countries.

"In short, if Indonesia's membership cannot influence the decisions made by the G20 countries, then Indonesia, as the minister of marine affairs and fisheries has suggested, must quit," he emphasized.

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