Congratulatory notes and words for Habibie

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)