Downer offers alternative funding for RI projects
Downer offers alternative funding for RI projects
JAKARTA (Agencies): Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer confirmed yesterday news that his government had offered Indonesia a new funding program for projects that have been affected by Canberra's decision to slash its foreign aid scheme.
Downer, facing strong criticisms at home, denied the charges of reversing his early decision to abolish the Development Import Finance Facility (DIFF), and maintained that the move had not damaged Australia's relations with its Asian neighbors.
"I think it is one of the greatest myths of Australian politics over the last few weeks that this has somehow done great damage to Australia's standing in the region. It absolutely hasn't," Downer told reporters at the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting in Jakarta.
Downer has written to Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Vietnam, offering alternative funding for the most important projects which would have been halted by the decision to scrap the DIFF program, a senior Australian official in Canberra told Reuters yesterday.
The letter to development ministers in the four governments, sent on Friday, offers to fund the most important projects that had been in the pipeline for DIFF approval, using other aid programs in fiscal 1996/97.
"I hope that the most urgent projects might still go ahead," Downer said in the letter, asking ministers to nominate key projects for alternative funding.
Three on-going projects in Indonesia affected by the DIFF axing were the solar energy program for eastern Indonesia, drinking water for nine regencies in West Java and an equipment for meteorological station, according to Indonesian sources.
Australia's embassy in Jakarta issued a statement on Monday denying media reports that Indonesia's powerful Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), had blacklisted Australian companies in retaliation over the DIFF decision.
Downer has been under intense pressure at home and abroad over his decision to axe the A$120 million a year Development Import Finance Facility (DIFF) soft loan scheme.
He faced sustained calls from the Labor opposition to resign in June after he wrongly told parliament no foreign government had protested his decision.
He later apologized for misleading parliament, admitting that several senior figures in neighboring governments, including Philippines President Fidel Ramos, had objected.
Canberra also came under fire from prominent business people at home over abolishing the program, which provided soft loans for infrastructure projects involving Australian companies.
Business and the Labor opposition said the abolition of DIFF could jeopardize projects worth more than A$1 billion.
Canberra is due to unveil its 1996/97 (July-June) budget on Aug. 20, and the official said Downer hoped for a speedy response from the four governments.