Coffee brings Indonesia and Romania closer

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Bela Lugosi's famous introduction to film audiences, "I -- am -- Drac -- ula...", the brutal communist regime in Bucharest and soccer legend Georghe Hagi are some of the things that come to mind upon mention of Romania.

So, what causes many Romanians to think every day about Indonesia?

One could hazard a guess that the answer is the tourist paradise of Bali.

But, "No, it's coffee from Indonesia. Most Romanians drink Indonesian coffee everyday, and know that it has come from this beautiful country," Romania's Ambassador to Indonesia Gheorghe Savuica told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta.

In an exclusive interview with the Post in connection with his country's National Day, Ambassador Savuica said that Romanians had been celebrating their National Day every December 1 since the 1989 December Revolution -- when they overthrew the brutal communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. But the Dec. 1 National Day has nothing to do with the revolution.

"Exactly 86 years ago (1918) on this day, Transylvania and Banat joined Romania through a historic vote by the Great Assembly of Alba Iulia. That moment marked the union of all Romanians into a single state and achieved Romanian nation -- state's unity," Savuica, a veteran diplomat who speaks fluent Bahasa Indonesia, English and Russia, said.

Besides coffee, Indonesia exports natural rubber, margarine, shortening, polycarbon and furniture to Romania -- a country of 22 million people in Eastern Europe. Indonesian investors have also invested around US$10 million in three Romanian companies.

For its part, Romania -- which earned the status of a functional economy from the European Union (EU) -- exports machinery, chemicals, metallurgy oil, and gas drilling and mining equipment. Bucharest has agreed to build a 2x50 megawatt coal- fired power plant in Asam-Asam, South Kalimantan.

Romania, a NATO member and would be member of the EU (2007), is set to post an impressive 8 percent economic growth in 2004, while Indonesia may experience economic growth of between 4 and 5 percent.

But it seems there is enormous room for improvement in boosting these economic ties, given the two countries' potential.

"We have signed several memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in various areas. We have invited various Indonesian delegations from the Ministry of Transportation, Office of the State Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, the National Resilience Institute (LEMHANAS), Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) and National Atomic Energy Agency (BATAN)," he said, while agreeing that these efforts boosted trade figures tremendously this year.

Romania may be a small nation -- a distant land for the people of this country -- and its bilateral trade with Indonesia has not reached the US$100 million mark, but its close relations with Indonesia are unique in nature, Savuica, who has worked with all Indonesian presidents except Sukarno, said.

He added that he admires the friendliness and tolerance of Indonesians.

"Our relations are growing at a tremendous pace. Our political relations reached their zenith after our leaders met three times on different occasions since 2002 to boost bilateral cooperation," Savuica said, referring to the first meeting between former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and Romanian President Ion Iliescu in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2002; the second, when Megawati visited Romania in 2003; and the last, in Jakarta when Iliescu paid a state visit to Indonesia in February 2004.

"Last month, Iliescu sent a warm message of congratulations to newly elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and wished him success in his new mission," Savuica, a veteran in the art of diplomacy, who specializes in Indonesian affairs, said.

He mentioned that his country, like Indonesia, had on Nov. 28 held its national general election, including the election of its president, without any problems.

Partial results showed on Tuesday the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) of Prime Minister Adrian Nastase a whisker ahead of the opposition centrist Justice and Truth Alliance in Sunday's election -- but the party is well short of a majority in parliament.

"Whoever wins in this election, the basic tenets of our foreign policy will not change, and it will not have any impact on Romania's relations with Indonesia. Because, both the ruling and opposition parties do not have any major differences over foreign policy," he said.

Savuica is optimistic about future relations.

"With confidence in the strength of the Romanian-Indonesian relationship, I am sure that our two countries, committed to democratic values, will find new avenues to further consolidate their ties of understanding and mutual support," he said.