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)