Goh reassures Habibie of strong commitment to RI

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)