Chinese trade mission expected to boost ties

JAKARTA (JP): A delegation of businesspeople from China will arrive in Indonesia in the first quarter of next year to promote trade and investment, according to the Indonesia-China Economic, Social and Cultural Cooperation Association.

The association's chairman Sukamdani S. Gitosardjono said on Wednesday the planned visit was a follow-up to President Abdurrahman Wahid's trip to China last month.

Sukamdani said business delegations from the two countries would sound out cooperation opportunities in agriculture and state-owned firms' management, as well as cooperatives and small and medium-scale businesses.

Potential industrial sectors to be offered for Chinese investment would be textile, fertilizer, plywood, steel, rubber, pulp and oil, among others.

Sukamdani said Indonesian businesspeople should not only see China as a competitor in the international market, but also as a potentially major trading partner.

He said the value of trade between Indonesia and China had been increasing since Indonesia officially reopened diplomatic ties with China in 1990.

He said the value of trade between the two countries rose from $3.23 billion in 1995 to $3.65 billion in 1996 and reached $3.74 billion in 1997, but dropped to $2.7 billion in 1998 due to the economic crisis.

This year, trade between the two countries would still be laggard, with trade value reaching only $1.6 billion as of last May, but it should recover next year.

Sukamdani predicted two-way trade would recover to about $3.7 billion next year.

Nevertheless, and most importantly, Indonesia always enjoyed a surplus in its trade with China between 1994 and 1998.

Bilateral trade between Indonesia and China, however, has been hampered by restrictive policies applied by the Indonesian government on various matters, from visa applications to Chinese language education.

"We demand the government lift the existing regulations which ban the use and study of Chinese. Understanding Chinese will certainly help our industry in using and maintaining imported machines from China," he said.

As of the end of this year, China's investment in Indonesia totaled $229.7 million with 58 approved projects.

According to official data, as of the end August the value of Indonesia's investment in China reached around $300 million. But unofficial reports claim Indonesian businesspeople have invested more than $1 billion in China. (cst)