A message from Brazilian Ambassador in Indonesia Jadiel Ferreira

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)