German envoy says Schroeder wants to bolster ASEAN ties
German envoy says Schroeder wants to bolster ASEAN ties
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's upcoming visit to Southeast Asia shows he is determined to establish strong relations with the region and enhance economic, trade and political ties, a senior German envoy said on Monday.
Jurgen A.R. Staks, who is German ambassador here, described Schroeder's week-long visit to four Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries -- the first by a German chancellor -- from May 11 as an historic event.
"This is a very historic moment. It is historic not only with regards to Malaysia but to Southeast Asia because it is the first visit of a German chancellor," Staks told AFP.
Staks said Schroeder's visit, 14 months after Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad visited Berlin, transmitted two signals about the role Germany wants to play in the region.
"One is with regards to bilateral relations and the other is the inter-regional cooperation between European Union (EU) and ASEAN," he said.
"It is important that these two organizations develop a more substantive and intensive cooperation in the fields which that they have been active in the past but which could be exploited a little more, particularly economic cooperation and political dialogue," he added.
Staks said Schroeder would also exchange ideas with regional leaders on post-war Iraq, the Middle East conflict and terrorism besides identifying ways to enhance economic and cultural cooperation.
"We consider the United Nations the perfect international body for the reconstruction of Iraq and then of course all the member states that are ready to contribute to the reconstruction should do it under the UN umbrella," he said.
Germany emerged on the side of France and Russia in opposing any UN resolutions that would authorize war much to the anger of the United States. Malaysia was also opposed to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
There are about 300 German companies in Malaysia with total investments of about 1.6 billion euro (US$1.8 billion). Total trade in 2001 was 6 billion euro in favor of Malaysia.
German's imports consist of electronics, electrical and palmoil while exports to Malaysia include electronics, machinery and motor vehicles.
Schroeder's delegation of some 30 people includes his economics and labor minister Wolfgang Clement and some business leaders.