EU-RI relations have potential to grow further

Veeramalla Anjaiah, Bogor, West Java

While the European Union (EU) and Indonesia are already closely involved, with the EU's historic and biggest enlargement on May 1, 2004, their relationship could become even stronger, several speakers said in a seminar on the EU last week.

"We have a strong and growing relationship with Indonesia in many fields: politics, trade, investment, development, economics and culture. It (the relationship) has strong potential to develop further," Sabato Della Monica, Ambassador/Head of the European Commission Delegation in Indonesia said, while opening the "Information Seminar on the European Union for Indonesian Journalists" in Bogor, West Java, last week.

Della Monica said there was a need for mutual awareness between Indonesia and the EU.

"The media plays the role of bridge between the EU and Indonesia. It should play an active role in disseminating information about the EU, and Indonesia, vice versa; and to strengthen relations between the two," Della Monica said.

With its population of 455 million, a common market -- which is the world's biggest -- a single currency and low tariffs, the expanded EU would become attractive to Indonesia, Royal Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Ruud Treffers, one of the seminar's main speakers, said. Other speakers included ambassadors including Austrian Ambassador Bernhard Zimburg and Finnish Ambassador Markku Ninioja, businessmen, senior journalists from Europe and Indonesian and EU officials.

"The new members previously used to impose a 9 percent customs tariff on Indonesian imports. After the expansion, the tariff decreased to 4 percent. Indonesia benefits from the expansion," Treffers, whose country currently holds the EU presidency in Indonesia, said.

While supporting the view of Treffers, Hungarian Ambassador to Indonesia Gyorgy Busztin said his country's bilateral trade, which is at present in the range of US$160 million to $200 million per annum, would improve a lot in the future due to low tariffs after Hungary joined the EU on MAY 1.

With its 20 percent share in world trade and foreign direct investment, the EU is an important world player.

"If Indonesia wants to recover, it must have an outbound economy. The domestic market is not sufficient. It (Indonesia) has to rely on the world market, including Europe," executive director of Prasetiya Mulya Business School Djisman Simandjuntak, another speaker, said.

However, despite Indonesia's market potential, it suffers from an image problem among European investors.

"The western media portrayed Indonesia in a bad light since the East Timor crisis in the 1990s. Everyday we have so much bad news about Indonesia in the international media. Indonesian journalists must fight this bad propaganda, and the government must launch a big media campaign to boost the country's image. Actually, there's no major problem with the business climate here," said Luigi Carlo, chairman of the Italian Business Association in Indonesia.

While supporting Carlo's opinion, chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Business Advisory Council Rudy Pesik said the Indonesian government was slow to promote the country's image.

"We're not good at promoting ourselves," Rudy said, adding that the EU could provide a good opportunity for Indonesian businessmen with its strong euro, better transfer of technology and low tariffs.

However, Rudy perceived that Indonesian products could face obstacles with the EU's high standards, environmental issues, and strict visa policies.

As the world's largest exporter and second largest importer, the EU could potentially absorb most of Indonesia's exports.

The EU -- which was formed on the basis of certain ideals, such as democracy, human rights, openness in trade, environmental concerns and so on -- could contribute to the development of democracy here.

Through its executive arm the European Commission (EC), the EU has already made serious efforts to strengthen democratic institutions, promote human rights, protect the environment, and work toward conflict resolutions in Indonesia.

The EU's most successful projects in Indonesia were the Leuser Development Program and the recent election monitoring team.

Under a five-year cooperation agreement (2002-2006) signed between Indonesia and the EU, the EC has provided a grant of 50 million euros every year.

"The EC had provided 15 million euros for education, 10 million euros to the trade sector and another 10 million for judicial reform," the Political Counselor at the Delegation of the European Commission to Indonesia Ulrich Eckle said.

"We are providing assistance to the Indonesian government in basic health services. We support democracy and peace, and want to see the success of Indonesia's transition to democracy," Eckle said.

In order to support civil society projects promoting human rights and strengthening democracy, the EC delegation in Jakarta recently launched an 800,000-euro micro-projects' facility.

The two-day seminar, attended by 23 journalists from various print and electronic media and four officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was organized by the Delegation of the European Commission and the embassies of the EU member states at Lido Lakes Resort & Conference from May 6 to May 7, 2004 as part of Europe Week celebrations worldwide, including Indonesia.