German businesses still optimistic on RI prospects

German businesses still optimistic on RI prospects

JAKARTA (JP): German business leaders said on Wednesday that
they were confident on the long-term future of Indonesia and
pledged to help the country get out of the economic crisis.

"Indonesia's 210 million population and rich economic and
business resources show such great potential that it is
unimaginable for Indonesia to be trapped in such a crisis
situation," Klaus von Menges, chairman of steel firm Ferrostaal
AG told reporters on Wednesday.

Menges is a member of the Committee of German Companies for
Asia Pacific, in town at the invitation of President B.J.
Habibie.

He and other committee members, including Edgar Nordmann
(managing director of natural rubber importer Rassmann GmbH&Co)
and Dr. Gert Vogt (spokesman for German state-owned finance
company KfW), met with Habibie on Tuesday night.

Menges said the committee was optimistic about Indonesia's
future and would help the country recover from the crisis.

Nordmann said that Indonesian exports were of fine quality,
"but (they are) little known to the European market".

He cited furniture, automotive spare parts, shoes and textiles
among potential exports from Indonesia.

The committee however detected many weaknesses that they said
needed to be overcome for Indonesian products to be truly
competitive.

"Indonesians are not natural marketing people. They are more
creative people who are proud of their background, country and
culture," Vogt said.

Menges said he believed that news about riots and lootings in
the media here and abroad had been exaggerated and did not
reflect the real situation in Indonesia.

German Ambassador Heinrich Seemann, who was present in the
discussion, supported the claim, saying: "There is no factory of
a German company or joint venture that has been disturbed by the
social tension which consequently caused its operations to be
stopped."

Germany is one of Indonesia's major trading partners and a
major source of investment and foreign aid. In 1997, Indonesia
exported DM4 billion (US$6.4 billion) and imported DM5.2 billion
($8.3 billion).

The German business community's confidence in Indonesia is
further underscored by the German-Indonesian Chamber of Industry
and Commerce (Ekonid) plan to go ahead with a major industry and
technology exhibition in Jakarta in March.

"The exhibition's mission is not about expecting immediate
sales, but more of a presentation that will create a long lasting
business relationship between Indonesia and Germany," German
Minister of Economics and Technology Kreienkamp-Rabe said on
Tuesday night when discussing the preparations for the
exhibition, called Technogerma Jakarta '99.

"We are not looking short term, so the economic crisis has not
made us cancel the exhibition that we first planned two years
ago," Kreienkamp-Rabe said during a discussion held at Regent
hotel.

The German government is sponsoring the exhibition that will
be held at the Jakarta Convention Center from March 1 to March 7.

"The German government has committed to a package of soft
loans for small to medium sized industries to help them grow in
times of credit crunch. The details of this will be disclosed
during the Technogerma in March, where the signing of agreements
may take place," Ambassador Seemann, said.

Around 200 German companies from various industries have
registered to take part and around 9,000 Indonesian
entrepreneurs, executives, professionals and others have also
registered for the symposiums to be held concurrently, the
organizers said.

A few exhibitors from the education sector will offer training
and educational opportunities in German institutions.
Scholarships will also be offered to qualified Indonesian
students.

Ekonid director Fitz Kleinsteuber also underlined the long-
term presence of German companies in Indonesia.

"We started our business relationship with Indonesia around
200 years ago. Siemens, for example, has been operating in
Indonesia for 143 years now," he said.

"There is no country in Asia except Indonesia where so many
Germans live," he added.

"The structure of German industry is that 80 percent of it is
small to medium sized companies. This is suitable for Indonesia"
he said. (02)