Congratulatory notes and words for Habibie

JAKARTA (JP): Congratulatory notes and words on B.J. Habibie's election as the country's seventh vice president were received yesterday.

China's Vice President Rong Yiren sent his good wishes to Habibie and hoped to see the close ties between the two countries grow stronger in the future.

"May the friendly cooperation and relations already existing between China and Indonesia grow in strength and develop day by day," Rong said in a letter, a copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post yesterday by the Chinese embassy here.

Germany's ambassador to Indonesia, Heinrich Seemann, told the Post that his government was proud to see a German-educated Indonesian scholar, Habibie, become the country's vice president.

"We are proud that the vice president was formerly trained in Germany. And we believe that Mr. Habibie will do things that will benefit Indonesia," Seemann said.

The ambassador added that as a man of vision with a Western education background, Habibie had easy accesses not only to Germany but also to other European countries as well as Japan and the United States, thereby opening Indonesia's door to the globalization era.

Habibie won a scholarship in 1954 to study in Germany. He received a doctorate in 1965 and then joined the Hamburger Flugzuegbau aircraft industry before working for Messercshmitt Boelkow Blohm.

He returned to Indonesia in 1974 and was appointed state minister of research and technology in 1978.

Apart from Habibie, a number of Indonesia's other outgoing ministers, like forestry minister Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo and education and culture minister Wardiman Djojonegoro, are also graduates from German universities.

Habibie was elected vice president unanimously Wednesday by the People's Consultative Assembly for the 1998/2003 term of office. (ego/aan)