1995 year of success: Soeharto

1995 year of success: Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): Despite a number of upheavals, 1995 was a successful year for Indonesia, which should strengthen the people's confidence when starting 1996, President Soeharto claimed.

The President outlined the economic, political, diplomatic, and scientific and technological progress Indonesia made in 1995, the year Indonesia marked its 50th anniversary of independence.

"With self confidence, we are ready to enter 1996. Now we know that this coming year will be filled with trials," he said in his traditional end-of-year speech broadcast nationwide on Sunday night.

"For the half century Indonesia has been independent, we managed to safely overcome many trials. With this experience, and the national capability that we have forged all this time, and by keeping our vigilance and unity, we are confident that we will be able to face the challenges in the coming years," he said.

When reflecting on 1995, Soeharto recognized that there were a number of upheavals in parts of Indonesia which forced the country to allocate energy and resources to deal with them and prevent them from reoccurring.

These upheavals had their origins in the diversity in cultures and backgrounds of Indonesian society, he said.

"From time to time, local upheavals occurred in some parts of our country. This year was no exception. Whatever the reasons -- economic, social, cultural, religious or political -- every upheaval was clearly a setback for the nation as a whole."

The speech made no reference to any particular incident. There were an unprecedented number of communal conflicts in places like East Timor, Irian Jaya, East Nusa Tenggara and a number of towns in Java in 1995.

"It is not easy to build, preserve and develop a national state in a country where the people are very diverse. Experience has shown that in a diverse society, there are seeds of unrest, big and small, which if not properly handled, could lead to upheaval."

"That is why each day, each month and each year that we pass without an upheaval is a national achievement which must maintain," he said.

The President underscored that Indonesia's diversity helps the nation progress.

"If some members of our society are momentarily facing problems, quite a lot of others have been ready and able to maintain the momentum of national development," he said.

Achievements

Soeharto listed some of the achievements of 1995.

Indonesia no longer worried about reaching a high growth rate, but ho to ensure its high growth rate doesn't overheat the economy, he said. "The government has begun taking measures to cool down our economic engine, so that in no time we can move even faster."

In 1995, Indonesia's economic growth exceeded the 7.1 percent targeted by the Sixth Five Year Plan, inflation ran at 8.64 percent, and the government's effort to promote equity and eradicate poverty continued.

Politically, he said, "the climate of openness continued to develop. What we have to do is keep it from getting out of control."

Indonesia completed its three-year chairmanship of the Non- Aligned Movement with the knowledge that some of the initiatives would be continued, Soeharto said.

He listed South-South cooperation, North-South dialog and the proposal to eliminate the foreign debt of the world's poorest countries as some of the programs Indonesia began during its tenure.

Soeharto underlined Indonesia's activities in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum during the year, and the preparations within this forum to establish free trade in the two regions.

"With ASEAN and APEC, room to maneuver of our economy will expand, especially to bolster our non-oil exports," he said.

While advanced industrial countries in APEC must fully open their doors by 2010, Indonesia must prepare for 2020 when it has to open its own market wide to products from industrialized countries, he explained.

The President described the successful maiden flight of N-250, the first Indonesian designed airplane, as a historic turning point that should prove to Indonesians the country's competitiveness in the world.

"Of course we still have a lot to do. But the maiden flight of the plane using the latest technology has strengthened our confidence that we are prepared to enter the 21st century, the century of science and technology," Soeharto said. (emb)

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