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.