VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Two international economic forums have just been held almost at the same time. The first forum is the Eastern Economic Forum -EEF with Russian sponsor, which was held on Tuesday 11 September 2018 in Vladivostok, Russia. Another forum is the World Economic Forum -WEF on ASEAN held in Hanoi, Vietnam 12 September 2018.

Although held almost at the same time, the two forums did not necessarily address the same issue. The World Economic Forum on ASEAN themed "ASEAN 4.0: Entrepreneurship and the Fourth Industrial Revolution". Whereas, the Eastern Economic Forum -EEF held in Vladivostok became an antithesis of US policy towards China and Russia.

The WEF Forum in Hanoi is a good opportunity for ASEAN member countries to develop partnerships with partners and attract the attention and investment of international companies. Another thing to be achieved is access to new ideas and trends that occur in the region and in the world.

On the contrary, the EEF emphasized integration to overcome the economic pressures imposed by the United States on China and Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jin Ping agreed to increase trade by using their own currencies rather than the US dollar.

 Russia has been carrying out this Forum since 2015 to bring Russia's Eastern region closer to the rapidly growing East Asia. Russia needs to seek new opportunities, after the sanctions imposed by the US and European Union since Russia's occupation of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine in 2014.

Chinese President Xi Jin Ping was present for the first time at this Eastern Economic Forum. In addition to economic relations, China and Russia were also involved in joint military exercises at almost the same time.

The implementation of these two forums is an indication that Southeast and East Asia have become the driving force of the world economy. The dynamics of development in the region should be maintained to reduce the level of conflict; like on the Korean peninsula, Japan's relations with Russia over the islands in northern Japan, China's trade war with the USA.

This is all a challenge for Asian countries to cooperate. If the growth in Asia stagnates, this will affect the growth of the world economy.