Germany's Schroeder heads to Southeast Asia

Germany's Schroeder heads to Southeast Asia

Agence France-Presse, Berlin

With a wary eye on the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
crisis, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sets off this weekend
on a four-nation mission to Southeast Asia designed to drum up
business for his country's stuttering economy.

The chancellor leaves on late Saturday for Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam, returning here early on May 16
for likely talks with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Colin
Powell.

His talks with prime ministers, a president and other senior
officials will include Iraq, the war on terror and general
political dialog.

But government officials here make it clear that this is
primarily a trade mission, with Schroeder keen both to push
German participation in projects in Southeast Asia and encourage
more investment in the opposite direction.

Germany's trade volume with Southeast Asia is higher than with
the United States, and is one reason why the chancellor decided
not to call off the trip despite the ravages of SARS, which has
hit the four states he is visiting.

Last year German trade with Singapore was 7.7 billion euros,
with Malaysia six billion, with Indonesia 3.7 billion and with
Vietnam 1.7 billion.

Direct German investment was 4.3 billion euros in Singapore,
1.3 billion in Malaysia, 440 million in Indonesia and 40 million
in Vietnam.

They are figures Berlin is keen to increase.

From Indonesia could come contracts for Germany's struggling
ship-building sector; from Malaysia, the railway deal; from
Vietnam, a role in projects from drinking water supplies to
energy as well as a slice of privatization.

On the political level, government sources said Schroeder's
talks with the prime ministers of Malaysia, Singapore and
Vietnam, the Indonesian president and the head of Vietnam's
communist party will range from Iraq and the war on terror to
bilateral and European Union (EU) cooperation, the environment
and human rights.