Side meetings arranged for Habibie at ASEM<\/p>\n
By K. Basrie<\/p>\n
LONDON (JP): The Indonesian Embassy here has arranged a series
\nof bilateral meetings for Vice President B.J. Habibie with
\nseveral Asian and European leaders when they gather here next
\nweek.<\/p>\n
Ambassador Rahardjo Jamtomo told a group of visiting
\nIndonesian journalists Monday that arrangements were made for
\nHabibie to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German
\nChancellor Helmut Kohl, French President Jacques Chirac and
\nleaders from China, Malaysia and Japan.<\/p>\n
The bilateral meetings will be held on the sidelines of the
\nSecond Asia-European Meeting (ASEM) on April 2-April 4, Rahardjo
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Habibie, the technology czar who was elected vice president
\nthis month, will be making his debut in his new capacity at an
\ninternational summit here next week.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto, 76, has expanded the task of the vice
\npresident to include representing him in various international
\nforums, including the ASEM, the Association of Southeast Asian
\nNations and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. In the
\npast, Soeharto attended most of the summits.<\/p>\n
The inaugural ASEM was held in Bangkok in 1996. The forum was
\nthen seen as a means of promoting economic cooperation between
\nthe two regions and for Asia as a balancing factor given the
\nincreasing pull of trans-Pacific economic ties.<\/p>\n
The vice president is also scheduled to meet with former
\nBritish prime minister Baroness Margaret Thatcher, whom Rahardjo
\ndescribed as \"an old friend of Habibie\".<\/p>\n
The Indonesian delegation will include Minister of Foreign
\nAffairs Ali Alatas and several director generals, Rahardjo said,
\nadding that budgetary constraints limited the size of the
\ncontingent.<\/p>\n
He expressed concern at the poor showing of Indonesian media
\nin covering the important event, noting that only one Indonesian
\nTV crew had applied for media accreditation.<\/p>\n
Also in the Indonesian delegation will be Radius Prawiro, a
\nformer economic minister assigned by President Soeharto to help
\nresolve the mountain of unpaid offshore debts of Indonesian
\ncompanies. \"I guess you know what his role will be,\" Rahardjo
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The summit will focus on the economy, including discussing the
\neconomic crisis affecting Indonesia and other Asian countries,
\nRahardjo said.<\/p>\n
The summit is also expected to come up with a proposal for a
\ncommon fund to assist Indonesia's economic recovery, a plan to
\nsupport the rupiah's exchange rate and a solution to the
\ncorporate debt problem, he said.<\/p>\n
In the run-up to the summit, Rahardjo said he had also met
\nwith British companies with investments in Indonesia to discuss
\nthe current economic crisis. \"They have all pledged to stay in
\nIndonesia. So we have nothing to worry about,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The ambassador cited British Aerospace and British Gas among
\nthe largest British investors in Indonesia.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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