Foreign ministry's

Foreign ministry's
inefficiency

From Kompas

I met an Indonesian diplomat in Singapore in September on his
way to Beijing for an Asia Pacific coordination meeting of the
foreign affairs ministry's information department. It reminded me
of the various overseas meetings of ambassadors and consuls
general frequently held when I studied abroad.

Public funds worth hundreds of thousands of dollars have been
spent on travel and accommodation expenses, ladies' programs for
wives of diplomats and so on, while the country has numerous
embassies and consulates general around the world. The
effectiveness and efficiency of these sessions, however, are very
slim. Though they can be accounted for in terms of budget
expenditure, the large sums wasted cannot be morally justified.

It would be more beneficial to spend the money on assistance
to Indonesian citizens neglected abroad or trade and tourism
promotion. Foreign office coordination can actually be achieved
via fax, phone or a Website linking the country's foreign
missions with the foreign office in Jakarta. The same is true of
other ministries, which could achieve greater efficiency in the
national interest.

ROBERT PALIMANAN

Bekasi, West Java