Donors to help SBY govt boost investment

Donors to help SBY govt boost investment

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Representatives of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) met
with president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday in an
apparent show of support for the incoming government.

Susilo's spokesman, Dino Pati Djalal, said the closed-door
talks centered on, among other things, programs to boost foreign
investment in the country.

Representing the country's main foreign donor institution were
U.S. Ambassador Ralph L. Boyce, Japanese Ambassador Yutaka Iimura
and World Bank Country Director for Indonesia Andrew Steer.

"We all believe that the programs will eventually help the
country deal with increasing unemployment," Dino told a media
conference attended also by the CGI figures.

Dino, who is also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' director
for North and Central America, refused to go into detail about
the programs, saying further talks would be held after Susilo
officially took office on Oct. 20.

Susilo will have to tackle open unemployment that has
surpassed more than nine million people, partly because of a lack
of foreign investment.

However, foreign direct investment approvals rose by 22
percent in the January-September period to US$7.9 billion from a
year earlier.

The World Bank has said that investment in Indonesia accounts
for only 20 percent of its Gross Domestic Product, which is 10
percent lower than expected.

Security problems, a lack of legal certainty and a corrupt
bureaucracy have been billed as the major obstacles to attracting
foreign investment to Indonesia.

The CGI is Indonesia's main donor. Last year, it disbursed
about US$3 billion to the country.

Earlier in the day, Susilo also received a delegation from the
Chinese Communist Party, which was led by a member of the party's
politburo, Wu Guangzheng. Accompanying the delegation was Chinese
Ambassador to Indonesia Lu Shumin.

Dino said the Chinese delegation proposed programs to enhance
bilateral relations in the economic field, but "the president-
elect also offered closer relations in the education, culture and
technology fields."

Susilo and his team continued their discussions on Wednesday
regarding the structure of his Cabinet.

Another spokesman for the president-elect, Andi Mallarangeng,
said the Cabinet structure would be based on the principles of
efficiency and cost-benefit.

Vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla had said earlier that the
Cabinet would comprise 34 ministers, including three coordinating
ministers.

Mallarangeng said Susilo would take pluralism into account
when it came to the selection of his ministers, as well as
integrity, capability and acceptability.

"Pluralism will be an important consideration for the
president-elect as he wants to confirm his commitment to the
national motto, Bhineka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity," said
Mallarangeng, who is also a political science expert.

Like the previous Cabinets of post-New Order administrations,
Susilo is likely to combine politicians (40 percent) and
professionals (60 percent).

Mallarangeng said Susilo had put back the interviewing of his
prospective ministers from Wednesday to Friday.

He also clarified earlier reports that the presidential office
under Susilo would not undermine the existing State Secretariat.
The office, instead, would strengthen the State Secretariat to
help the president run the government.

Earlier another Susilo aide, Denny JA, said the presidential
office would deal with various issues ranging from promoting the
president's image to evaluating the performance of his ministers.