Goh to arrive in Jakarta with 60 businesspeople

Goh to arrive in Jakarta with 60 businesspeople

JAKARTA (JP): Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong,
accompanied by two ministers, top officials and 60 Singapore and
international businesspeople, is expected here on Thursday for a
two-day working visit to help Indonesia woo back foreign
investment.

Indonesia's Ambassador to Singapore, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan,
told reporters after a meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid
on Wednesday that the visiting businesspeople were interested in
investing in manufacturing, agribusiness, financial services and
the tourism industry.

"International businessmen from the United States, Japan and
European countries will be included in the business delegation,"
Panjaitan added.

He said an investment agreement for an aquaculture project on
the Indonesian island of Galang, just south of Singapore, would
be signed during the visit.

"This project will involve an investment of 800 million
Singapore dollars (US$479.5 million) over five years and will
employ up to 30,000 workers," he added.

Several of the businessmen, Panjaitan said, were especially
interested in tourism-related and agribusiness ventures in
Bukittinggi (West Sumatra), Brastagi (North Sumatra), Batam,
Bintan and Karimun (Riau).

He cautioned, however, that foreign investors would only do
business in the country when the political and security
situations were stable.

Panjaitan said the sectarian conflicts in Maluku and the
separatist movement in Aceh had raised concerns among foreign
businesspeople intending to invest in Indonesia.

Goh, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Law S. Jayakumar and
Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo will meet with
President Abdurrahman, members of the House of Representatives,
officials of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) and
Indonesian businessmen.

Discussions with House members and businessmen will take place
at a breakfast meeting and a luncheon talk, in separate hotels.

Goh's office said in a statement that the businesspeople who
would accompany the prime minister represented a broad spectrum
of business sectors, such as manufacturing, trade, logistics,
banking and finance and tourism.

Goh pledged to make the visit to Jakarta when Indonesian
President Abdurrahman went to Singapore on his first overseas
visit in November after taking office as the first democratically
elected leader of Southeast Asia's largest nation.

During the Singapore visit, Abdurrahman also asked influential
Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew to sit on a panel advising
his government on how to turn around the Indonesian economy.

Goh's office said the prime minister was also scheduled to
meet with Vice President Megawati Sukanorputri and key economics
ministers, as well as Speaker of the People's Consultative
Assembly Amien Rais and House Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

It said a separate program had been arranged for the business
delegation, including a joint meeting of Indonesian, Singaporean
and international businessmen with President Abdurrahman and
Prime Minister Goh, and an investment seminar on manufacturing,
trade, tourism and banking and finance. (prb/vin)