U.S. to donate 1.5m metric tons of wheat to RI<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (Reuters): The United States will donate up to 1.5
\nmillion metric tons of wheat to Indonesia over the next eight
\nmonths as part of a $7.9-billion international effort to support
\ndemocratic reforms,<\/p>\n
Indonesia is \"much too important a country to let try to
\nmuddle through a very, very difficult situation,\" said Brian
\nAtwood, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International
\nDevelopment, in announcing the assistance.<\/p>\n
By the end of the year, as much as 100 million people -- or
\nroughly half of Indonesia's population -- could be \"living in
\nextreme poverty,\" Atwood said.<\/p>\n
But with the new aid, Indonesia may be able to emerge from its
\nfinancial crisis in less time than it took the United States to
\nclimb out of its 10-year Great Depression, he said.<\/p>\n
The wheat donations, which are valued at $190 million, include
\ninitial shipments of 500,000 tons which are expected to arrive by
\nthe end of the year.<\/p>\n
The United States is prepared to donate up to one million tons
\nmore of wheat for delivery by next spring if that would not
\ndisrupt commercial sales or hurt local farmers by flooding the
\nmarket with unneeded food, Atwood said.<\/p>\n
At a separate event, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
\ndismissed charges made by Australia that U.S. plans to donate a
\ntotal of 2.5 million tons of wheat around the world to reduce a
\ndomestic surplus were tantamount to \"dumping.\"<\/p>\n
\"We're not doing anything insidious,\" Glickman told reporters,
\nnoting that the United States has a long history of donating
\nsurplus farm goods. \"There is nothing new here. The United States
\nis the most giving nation in the world.\"<\/p>\n
Altogether, US AID is providing approximately $300 million in
\naid to Indonesia, including the prospective wheat donations and
\n$50 million worth of rice and other food items that the agency is
\nalready in the process of buying.<\/p>\n
Other aid includes $47 million in development assistance, $10
\nmillion in disaster aid and $5 million in loan guarantees, Atwood
\nsaid. The U.S. Agriculture Department also will provide $25
\nmillion in long-term, low-interest loans to help Indonesia
\npurchase additional foodstuff.<\/p>\n
The U.S. aid is part of an overall package of $7.9 billion in
\ninternational aid for Indonesia pledged by more than 30 donor
\ncountries in Paris on Wednesday at a conference organized by the
\nWorld Bank.<\/p>\n
Atwood said those pledges, which were more than World Bank
\nofficials expected, reflect \"a very, very good performance on the
\nimportant of the international community.\"<\/p>\n
But Atwood cautioned that it was important that Indonesia stay
\non the path of democratic reform. Without \"continued movement
\ntoward that goal, then it will be extremely difficult\" for the
\nIndonesian economy to recover, he said.<\/p>\n
While no explicit conditions are attached to the new aid, \"I'm
\nsure the international community will want to reconsider its
\nposition if there is any hesitancy\" on Indonesia's part to move
\ntoward democracy, Atwood said.<\/p>\n
In Sydney, Australian said yesterday the United States had
\nagreed to structure an aid plan to give Indonesia 1.5 million
\ntons of wheat in a way that would avoid damaging Australian wheat
\ninterest in one of its key markets.<\/p>\n
\"The Americans have given us an undertaking that their
\ndevelopment assistance program for Indonesia won't in the area of
\nwheat cut across our commercial wheat market,\" Australian Foreign
\nMinister Alexander Downer told reporters.<\/p>",
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