Harvest forum will discuss thorny issues
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)