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)