Australia provides A$26m to RI

Australia provides A$26m to RI

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The governments of Indonesia and Australia signed an agreement
on Tuesday on Australia's A$26 million assistance program for
five years to support Indonesia's economic reform program.

The agreement was signed by Coordinating Minister for the
Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti and Australian Ambassador David
Ritchie during the annual pre-bilateral discussion of the
Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI).

"This new program from Australia is a welcome initiative to
support the implementation of the Indonesian government's White
Paper on economic reform," Dorodjatun said in a statement.

Released in September, the White Paper outlines a range of
actions to maintain the momentum of economic recovery following
the country's graduation from the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) economic program at the end of this year.

The assistance will be delivered through the third phase of
the Australia-Indonesia Technical Assistance Management Facility
(TAMF), which will commence on Jan. 19, 2004.

The TAMF will focus on supporting the Indonesian government in
three key areas: achieving fiscal sustainability, protecting the
government's financial position and improving the strength and
integrity of the financial system.

Elsewhere, Ritchie said that since the first phase of the TAMF
began back in 1999, Australia had supported key elements of the
Indonesian government's economic reform program, which included
tax administration reforms, financial sector oversight and the
development of an effective antimoney-laundering regime.

"During that period Indonesia has made significant progress in
restoring macroeconomic stability, which has enabled it to
graduate from five years of exceptional IMF financing," said
Ritchie.