A message from Brazilian Ambassador in Indonesia Jadiel Ferreira de Oliveira
JAKARTA (JP): The Federative Republic of Brazil celebrates the 179th anniversary of its independence on Sept. 7, 2001. To commemorate his national Independence Day, Ambassador Jadiel Ferreira de Oliveira extends his sincere greetings to his fellow Brazilians and Indonesians. In the following interview, he also invites both Brazilians and Indonesians to intensify cooperation to improve bilateral relations between their two nations.
Question: What message do you want to impart for the commemoration of Brazil's Independence Day.
De Oliveira: On the occasion of the 179th anniversary of Brazil's independence, I extend our greetings to our Indonesian friends and Brazilians visiting or living in Indonesia. I also want to express my satisfaction with being in this country for six and a half years trying to promote closer relations between Brazil and Indonesia. I am very happy to be witnessing the historical transitions that Indonesia is going through to become a democratic nation, and very happy with the progress in its institution-building today.
I am particularly privileged to have witnessed the transition of leadership in Indonesia from Soeharto to B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri. In Brazil, we liked Sukarno very much. Sukarno, one of the icons of my generation, visited Brazil twice and relations between Brazil and Indonesia were very good. He loved Brazilian architecture and sent Indonesian architects to Brazil. Today, we can see some houses in Jakarta built with a Brazilian architectural style.
How has the relationship between the two countries developed since then?
After the fall of president Sukarno, Indonesia seemed to emphasize relations with more developed countries, such as the United States, Australia and Singapore. Anyway, we are trying to promote better relations and cooperation between the two big countries -- Indonesia as the biggest country in South East Asia and Brazil as the biggest country in Latin America.
What measures do you take to promote better relations and cooperation?
We are trying to create cooperation programs in various sectors, including agribusiness, aerospace, oil and gas, manufacture, sports, education, tourism and culture.
What programs do you offer to Indonesia for cooperation in agribusiness?
In agribusiness, we are offering cooperation in technology and technical assistance for the production of soybean, sugar, castor oil and cassava.
Brazil has developed technology, and soybean seeds that can be planted in soil with different conditions. Because both countries have similar climates, we want to supply Indonesia with technology and help it grow soybeans in Sulawesi, Sumatra, Irian Jaya (Papua) and some other islands, so that Indonesia can be self-sufficient in the production of soybeans.
As the largest sugar producer in the world, Brazil can also help Indonesia restructure its sugar industry by providing technology and equipment for sugar mills.
Brazil is also offering technology to Indonesia for the production of castor oil that can be made into lubricants for jet engines and telephone cables. Lubricant for jet engines is very strategic for the air force and Indonesia has advantages for its production because castor oil plants grow everywhere in this country. We in Brazil decided to invest hundreds of millions of dollars for the development of our own technology for the production of jet engine lubricant after seeing that Shell, Exxon and other companies cut the supply of jet engine lubricant for Argentina as soon as the Malvinas war started between that country and England in 1982.
For the processing of cassava, Brazil can offer Indonesia technology, technical assistance and research.
How about cooperation in aerospace?
Our aircraft producer, Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA (Embraer), is the world's No. 4 in the production and manufacture of aircraft. It is now able to enter the supersonic era after it sold 20 percent of its shares to a French consortium comprising Matra Group, CSF-Thomson, Dassault Aviation and Snecma. It has sold aircraft to leading airlines, such as American Airlines, Continental Airline and Swiss Air. And it has also supplied super Tucano trainers to the British Royal Air Force for the training of its pilots. Embraer is already fully booked up until the year 2004 for the export of aircraft worth US$3 billion and Indonesia can help it meet the demand.
We are offering assistance to PT Dirgantara Indonesia (formerly known as PT IPTN) for the production of pilot trainers not only for Indonesia's Air Force but also for the air forces of 10 countries in South East Asia. We are willing to help PT Dirgantara Indonesia in any possible way -- such as by providing technology, bringing in experts and installing world-class hangars. Ilham Habibie of PT Dirgantara Indonesia has visited Embraer in Brazil and our President Fernando Cardoso discussed the possible cooperation with PT Dirgantara Indonesia when he visited here in January.
Have you reached agreement on cooperation with PT Dirgantara Indonesia?
We are still in the preliminary stage of discussions, but I think PT Dirgantara Indonesia has convinced Embraer that it can help produce components and engineering works.
How can PT Dirgantara Indonesia produce components and engineering works for you while it is now facing financial difficulties?
Investment can be sought from partners and money is not a problem if we are guaranteed good projects. So it's not a matter of money but a matter of reorganization and redirection of activities at PT Dirgantara Indonesia.
How will you cooperate with Indonesia in oil and gas?
Indonesia has practically exploited all oil and gas reserves in shallow waters and needs to move toward exploration in deep waters. We are one of the best in deep water exploration in the world and we, therefore, can offer assistance in this field. In return, Indonesia can sell natural gas and coal to us. So, cooperation in the energy sector can be balanced in two ways.
Do you seek cooperation in sports and education?
Of course, we can cooperate in sports because Brazil has been a world champion not only in football but also in volley ball and basketball. In 1997, we organized a volley ball clinic here for one month and it was not followed up because of the economic crisis. But we have not given up. We still have the idea of sending Indonesian football coaches to Rio de Janeiro for one month of training under the auspices of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA), like what we did for Singaporeans and Vietnamese.
In education, we have arranged student exchanges between Indonesia and Brazil. We are also negotiating an education agreement with the Indonesian government, whereby Indonesian students can study at universities in Brazil without having to take entrance examinations and vice versa. But it will not be a perfect program because we do not give scholarships.
It seems that the Brazilian embassy is very active in trying to promote better relations between the two countries. Do you see any problems that hinder your programs?
The biggest enemy is lack of information. Brazilians do not know much about Indonesia and Indonesians in general do not know Brazil except for its samba and football. We, therefore, must have programs to improve awareness. The visit of the then president Abdurrahman Wahid to Brazil in October 2000, followed by the visit of Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso to Indonesia in January 2001 and the trip of Brazilian Vice President Marco Maciel to Jakarta for participation in the G-15 (Group of 15 Developing Countries) summit in May has attracted attention in Brazil. Now I see much more information about Indonesia in Brazil.
To provide more information about Brazil for Indonesians, we print brochures in Bahasa. We also have websites -- www.braziltradenet.gov.br, www.ibge.gov.br/english, www.brazil.emb.nw.dc.us, www.embratur.gov.br -- that are accessible for Internet explorers throughout the world.
What other measures do you take to make Indonesians more acquainted with Brazil and Brazilians more knowledgeable about Indonesia?
Because Indonesia has unilaterally abolished visas for Brazilian visitors, we are trying to get visas for Indonesians visiting Brazil abolished.
We also support Brazilian cultural performances in Indonesia. On Sept. 15, for example, Warung Kemang in South Jakarta will organize a Brazilian night and we will provide technical support. (Rikza Abdullah)