Goh reassures Habibie of strong commitment to RI
JAKARTA (JP): Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has reassured President B.J. Habibie of his country's strong commitment to maintaining close ties and cooperation with Indonesia, a Singaporean minister said yesterday.
Quoting a message from the prime minister to Habibie, Minister of Education Teo Chee Hean said Goh pledged to maintain strong ties with Indonesia because the latter's stability and prosperity were critical to both Singapore and the region.
"Indonesia and Singapore are close neighbors and we look forward to building good relations," Teo said after a 90-minute meeting with Habibie at the Bina Graha presidential office.
During the meeting, the President was accompanied by Minister of Defense/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto.
Teo, also second minister of defense, conveyed Goh's congratulatory message for Habibie who replaced president Soeharto on May 21. Goh also invited Habibie to visit the city state.
Goh expressed his sympathy to Habibie and hoped that he would be able to lead Indonesia out of the current economic crisis.
"The prime minister sent his best wishes and warmest congratulation for staying on top of a very difficult situation. This must be the most difficult job in the world," Teo noted.
The purpose of Teo's three-day visit was to deliver Singapore's US$7 million of humanitarian aid to Indonesia and to assure Habibie that Singapore was Indonesia's true friend.
Disappointment
In an interview with the Asian Wall Street Journal, published Monday, Habibie said he was disappointed with Singapore's reluctance to help Indonesia's ailing economy.
"You see, a friend in need is a friend indeed, I do not have that feeling from Singapore," the daily quoted the President as saying.
Habibie also complained that Goh and other leaders had sent belated congratulatory messages to him.
However, Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung announced on May 27, that Goh sent his message on May 25.
Singapore agreed last year to lend $5 billion in a bilateral loan as part of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) $43 billion rescue package to Indonesia.
In February this year, Goh proposed the establishment of a multilateral committee to guarantee letters of credit (L/Cs) issued by Indonesian banks to help Indonesia finance imports.
Goh notified Soeharto of his country's readiness to use US$3 billion of its $5 billion bilateral aid commitment to Indonesia to guarantee its letters of credit (L/Cs) for much-needed imports such as medicines, industrial materials, spare parts and foodstuffs.
This pledge however cannot yet be implemented as Indonesia is still not able to meet Singapore's requirements.
"We have no intention to delay (the financing), we just want to be sure that it was strictly used for (the purposes) that had been agreed upon," a Singaporean source said yesterday.
Habibie was apparently still upset with the statement of Singapore's former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew when Habibie was elected as vice president in March.
Lee said financial markets were "disturbed" by Habibie's election as vice president.
"It's Mr. Lee's private opinion," the source said. (prb)