Rizal hopeful about support from creditors<\/p>\n
By Kornelius Purba<\/p>\n
TOKYO (JP): Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli
\nexpressed confidence on Wednesday that problems caused by
\nmilitiamen in West Timor would have no effect on next week's
\nmeeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) creditor
\nconsortium in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a news conference at the Imperial Hotel at the
\nconclusion of his two-day visit here, Rizal said the Japanese
\ngovernment had promised not to tie political problems to economic
\nissues at the upcoming meeting of the creditor group.<\/p>\n
According to Rizal, assurances were given during meetings on
\nTuesday and Wednesday with Japanese Minister of Finance Keiichi
\nMiyazawa, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono, Bank of Japan
\nGovernor Masaru Hayami and Minister of International Trade and
\nIndustry Takeo Hiranuma.<\/p>\n
\"We really appreciate the position taken by the Japanese
\ngovernment to disassociate politics from our economic
\nperformance. They are upbeat about Indonesia's economic
\nperformance and have suggested that politics should not be a
\nmajor issue in the next CGI meeting,\" said the minister.<\/p>\n
\"I hope the U.S. will be wiser for the sake of the 200 million
\npeople of Indonesia,\" Rizal responded when asked about the U.S.
\nthreat to impose an economic embargo on Indonesia if it failed to
\nsettle the militia problem.<\/p>\n
Washington has warned Indonesia that it might face an economic
\nembargo if its actions on the militias failed to appease the
\ninternational community.<\/p>\n
World Bank president James Wolfensohn also warned President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid in a recent letter of the consequence of his
\nfailure to end the violence in West Timor.<\/p>\n
Rizal briefed Japanese senior officials on the progress in
\ndisarming the militias following the killing of three foreign
\nrelief workers in Atambua last month.<\/p>\n
He said the government would use force to disarm militiamen
\nand facilitate the repatriation of the 130,000 East Timorese or
\ntheir resettlement in other provinces in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"We have done a lot of things to solve problems in West
\nTimor,\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
He praised the Japanese government and private companies, the
\nlargest creditor and investors in Indonesia respectively, for
\ntheir strong commitment to help Indonesia survive the economic
\ncrisis that first hit the country in mid-1997.<\/p>\n
\"During the last three years of the financial crisis, a lot of
\ncompanies left Indonesia, but many Japanese companies remain in
\nIndonesia,\" Rizal pointed out.<\/p>\n
The minister also explained the Cabinet's 10-point economic
\nrecovery program to the Japanese government, including the
\nstabilization of the financial sector, the acceleration of
\nbanking and private sector restructuring, the increase of revenue
\nlevels from non-oil exports, and the increase of agricultural
\nproductivity and the welfare of farmers.<\/p>\n
\"We have accelerated corporate debt restructuring. We have
\ntaken tough decisions to speed up debt workouts. After the CGI
\nmeeting, we will conclude more debt restructuring deals,\" Rizal
\nadded.<\/p>\n
The CGI meeting, which will be chaired by World Bank vice
\npresident Jamil Kassum, will also be attended by CGI members,
\nincluding the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy
\nand Britain.<\/p>\n
Major international organizations, including the International
\nMonetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank, will also be
\npresent.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government will ask for US$4.8 billion in loans
\nfrom the CGI to plug part of the huge budget deficit next year.<\/p>\n
Rizal is scheduled to return to Tokyo later this week to lead
\nIndonesia's delegation to the CGI meeting. The delegation will
\ninclude nine ministers.<\/p>\n
Separately, a visiting British minister said in Jakarta on
\nWednesday that major donors to Indonesia would continue to make
\nnew aid pledges at next week's meeting of Indonesia's creditors
\nin Tokyo.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think not making pledges on aid is likely to happen,\"
\nBritain's international development minister Clare Short was
\nquoted by AFP as saying.<\/p>\n
Short said she had been told that as of Tuesday only 80 light
\nweapons had been handed in under the militia disarmament effort
\nin West Timor.<\/p>\n
\"We think there's been some progress. It needs driving forward
\nand the international community needs to support these efforts,\"
\nShort said.<\/p>\n
\"There will be a commitment to spend behind the reform
\neffort,\" she said of Britain's approach to the meeting.<\/p>\n
The minister said Britain wanted to play \"a supportive role in
\nhelping drive through reforms\" in Indonesia, saying there were
\n\"genuine intentions for reforms\".<\/p>\n
\"But there needs to be more progress on the ground,\" she
\nadded. (prb)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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