Dutch, Indonesian businessmen sign agreements

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)