Harvest forum will discuss thorny issues

JAKARTA (JP): Unrest in Aceh and the dispute between state electricity company PT PLN and its power contractors will be the main topics of a dialog between the country's leaders and investors on Tuesday.

Harvey Goldstein, president of dialog-organizer Harvest International, said these two issues were the main concerns of investors who wanted to maintain their investments in the country.

"Businesses want some kind of assurance that the investment climate in Indonesia is favorable in the long term," Goldstein said in a statement.

The dialog titled Transforming Vision to Reality will feature President Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

Goldstein said foreign investors were concerned by the independence movement in Aceh because it could effect the country's political stability.

"The participants believe that the Aceh problem should not be considered as a local political issue. It should also be related to Indonesia's political stability -- a prerequisite for foreign investors to come and do business here," Goldstein said.

Acehnese have intensified their demand for a self- determination referendum over the past several months, raising concern that separatist movements elsewhere in the country could be sparked.

Goldstein said the government's stance in the dispute between PLN and its independent power producers (IPPs) also was crucial in building confidence in the investment policies of the new administration.

"Basically, what they want to know is what the government has in mind to reassure them that past and future contracts will be honored and that their investments are safe," Goldstein said.

PLN is seeking to renegotiate the contracts it awarded to IPPs during the rule of former president Soeharto, claiming the contracts' terms are burdensome and that they were awarded through collusion, corruption and nepotism. (jsk)