Dorodjatun vows to improve RI-U.S. business ties
Dorodjatun vows to improve RI-U.S. business ties
JAKARTA (JP): Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Indonesia's newly
appointed ambassador to the United States said Saturday that
improving bilateral economic relations was one of his main
priorities.
Speaking at a business luncheon hosted by the U.S. Committee
of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin),
Dorodjatun said that promoting business relationships between the
two countries was of utmost importance in the current situation.
Dorodjatun, who was sworn in by President Soeharto last month
to replace Arifin Siregar, said the other priorities would
include cultural and political relations.
"My main agenda is to improve not only business and economic
ties but all sectors, including the political ties," the former
dean of the economics department of the University of Indonesia
said while promising that he would try to become a good public
relations officer for Indonesia.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, total U.S.
cumulative investment in Indonesia stood at US$8.68 billion in
July 1997 with 271 projects. The value of U.S. investments
approved by the Indonesian government dropped to $642 million in
1996 from $2.77 billion in 1995.
The value of Indonesia's exports to the United States totaled
$5.28 billion in the first nine months of last year. In 1996, the
country's total exports to the U.S. rose to $6.79 billion from
$6.32 billion in 1995.
Indonesia's imports from the U.S. were $4.18 billion from
January to September last year. In 1996, the country's imports
from the U.S. rose to $5.05 billion from $4.75 billion in 1995.
Dorodjatun said business and political ties between Indonesia
and the United States had been growing very well but added that
despite the good relationship there was a strong need for him to
explain more about Indonesia's role in the global market.
The Unites States, for example, needed to know that Indonesia
played a very significant role in enhancing global trade
activities through sea transportation, he said, citing that four
Indonesian straits -- Sunda, Lombok, Wetar and Ombay -- were on
the routes of about 40 percent of the world's transportation
activities.
"Unfortunately, the United States has not realized this," he
said.
The Sunda Strait lies between Java and Sumatra, the Lombok
Strait between Bali and Lombok, while the Wetar and Ombay Straits
are in East Nusa Tenggara province.
"So it is part of my to job to explain this to the United
States," he said.
Dorodjatun, however, said that the currency turmoil, which has
seen the rupiah's value against the U.S. dollar decline by about
70 percent since early July, could make his job more difficult.
The crisis has forced many Indonesian companies to close down
overseas offices, such as those in the United States.
"This will pose a difficulty for me because I will have little
direct access to Indonesian companies operating in the United
States," he said.
The chairman of Kadin's U.S. Committee, Toni Agus Ardy, said
few Indonesian companies could maintain their overseas offices in
the current circumstances.
"It is just bad (luck) that we have to close down our overseas
offices as part of cost-cutting measures during this crisis," he
said. (aly)