Dutch, Indonesian businessmen sign agreements
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting Dutch business executives and their Indonesian counterparts signed 31 documents on trade, investment and financial cooperation yesterday worth more than one billion Dutch guilders (US$625 million).
"This closer bilateral cooperation is aimed at developing mutual business synergy in which we can use the Netherlands as a gateway to Europe and they can use Indonesia as a gateway to the Asia-Pacific region," Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto said.
Prior to the signing ceremony Hartarto led a two-hour meeting, called a round-table dialog, between Indonesian ministers and the visiting delegation of 61 Dutch businessmen, which was led by Dutch Minister for Economic Affairs G.J. Wijers.
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana, Minister of Industry Tunky Ariwibowo, Minister of Trade Satrio B. Joedono, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto and Minister of Investment Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo attended the dialog.
"This is the largest delegation of business representatives ever," Wijers said. "They are top executives of leading companies."
Ministers Sudjana and Wijers are scheduled to sign here today a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between Indonesia and the Netherlands in the energy industry. Two other agreements will also be signed tomorrow by Indonesian firms PT Alumindo Light Metal Industry and PT Gunawan Dianjaya Steel with two Dutch firms in Surabaya, East Java.
Yesterday's agreements included memoranda of understanding, letters of intent, contracts and other agreements on businesses in the fields of energy, trade, telecommunications, transportation and manufacturing.
PT Priamanaya signed two contracts worth a total of 350 million guilders, in the deal of the largest money value formalized by a single company yesterday. The contracts called for the company to establish electricity substations and transmission lines in Central and East Java in cooperation with NKF Kabel b.v. and Elin Holec High Voltage b.v.
Other major agreements were signed by PT Mega Eltra and TNW Export b.v., on the upgrading of 43 engineering schools at a total cost of 40 million guilder; by PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam, PT Ballast Indonesia Construction -- a subsidiary of a Dutch company -- and PT Waskita Karya on the construction of the third phase project of the Tarahan coal terminal in Lampung, with an investment of $29.5 million; by PT Telkom Indonesia and AT&T on the expansion and extension of a fiber optic cable route in Java worth at $22 million; and by PT BNI Multi Finance and ING on the arrangement of a syndicated loan facility worth $20 million.
The Dutch business delegates arrived here on Saturday, two days before yesterday's arrival of Queen Beatrix. During their 12-day stay in Indonesia, the delegates will visit the ongoing Indonesian Product Expo here and tour Surabaya in East Java and Medan in North Sumatra for business meetings.
According to data released by the office of the Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade, the Netherlands ranks seventh among investors in Indonesia, with total investments of $7.4 billion for 123 projects.
Meanwhile, Wijers said in a conference held for the Dutch press here yesterday that his government had offered Jakarta a $152 million export package, part of which would finance non- commercial Indonesian state projects.
AFP quoted him as saying that the package is expected to help Dutch companies compete on an equal footing with other international companies seeking to invest in and export to Indonesia.
Chairman of the Federation of Netherlands Industry and Employees Rinnoy Kan said that the package includes cheap credits to non-commercial state projects, such as health, education and infrastructure, technical cooperation between institutions and academic scholarships. (kod)