Germany's Schroeder heads to Southeast Asia<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Berlin<\/p>\n
With a wary eye on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
\ncrisis, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sets off this weekend
\non a four-nation mission to Southeast Asia designed to drum up
\nbusiness for his country's stuttering economy.<\/p>\n
The chancellor leaves on late Saturday for Malaysia,
\nSingapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, returning here early on May 16
\nfor likely talks with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Colin
\nPowell.<\/p>\n
His talks with prime ministers, a president and other senior
\nofficials will include Iraq, the war on terror and general
\npolitical dialog.<\/p>\n
But government officials here make it clear that this is
\nprimarily a trade mission, with Schroeder keen both to push
\nGerman participation in projects in Southeast Asia and encourage
\nmore investment in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n
Germany's trade volume with Southeast Asia is higher than with
\nthe United States, and is one reason why the chancellor decided
\nnot to call off the trip despite the ravages of SARS, which has
\nhit the four states he is visiting.<\/p>\n
Last year German trade with Singapore was 7.7 billion euros,
\nwith Malaysia six billion, with Indonesia 3.7 billion and with
\nVietnam 1.7 billion.<\/p>\n
Direct German investment was 4.3 billion euros in Singapore,
\n1.3 billion in Malaysia, 440 million in Indonesia and 40 million
\nin Vietnam.<\/p>\n
They are figures Berlin is keen to increase.<\/p>\n
From Indonesia could come contracts for Germany's struggling
\nship-building sector; from Malaysia, the railway deal; from
\nVietnam, a role in projects from drinking water supplies to
\nenergy as well as a slice of privatization.<\/p>\n
On the political level, government sources said Schroeder's
\ntalks with the prime ministers of Malaysia, Singapore and
\nVietnam, the Indonesian president and the head of Vietnam's
\ncommunist party will range from Iraq and the war on terror to
\nbilateral and European Union (EU) cooperation, the environment
\nand human rights.<\/p>",
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