Germany to open trade house here

Germany to open trade house here

JAKARTA (JP): Germany plans to open a trade house in Jakarta
to anticipate Indonesia's increasingly strong economic role in
Southeast Asia, a senior German official says.

Richard von Weizsacker, a former president of the Federal
Republic of Germany, said in a luncheon meeting with members of
the Ekonid German-Indonesian economic group here yesterday that
European countries, and Germany in particular, have now shifted
their economic orientation from the European-Atlantic region to
Asia and the Pacific, with the center in the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"Germany...is a great believer in regional cooperation, not as
a seclusion but rather as a stepping stone towards broader
cooperation," he told some 300 businessmen and diplomats
attending the meeting.

Indonesia's exports to Germany in 1994 increased by seven
percent to US$1.26 billion from 1993, while imports from that
country increased by 19.3 percent to $2.47 billion.

Von Weizsacker, whose speech was presented during Ekonid's
25th anniversary yesterday, suggested that Indonesia increase its
potentials in advanced technology and science because countries
such as Vietnam and China were likely to become close competitors
if Indonesia continued to rely on natural resources as its
competitive edge.

He contended that Germany would continue to cooperate with
Indonesia on a mutually beneficial basis in the fields of
technology transfer, scientific and cultural exchange and
vocational training.

At yesterday's meeting, a former chairman of Ekonid, Soedarpo
Sastrosatomo, was presented yesterday with a certificate and
golden pin for his life-long honorary board membership in the
group.

According to the director of Ekonid, F. Kleinsteuber, the
organization currently groups 570 members, the majority of which
are Indonesian individuals and companies. (pwn)