Indonesia and Croatia forge closer economic ties

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto and Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa laid the groundwork in talks here yesterday for stronger economic ties between the two countries and discussed the possibility of using a counter-trade system.

"Some rather concrete results were achieved during the talks. Of those, I can tell you that Croatia is interested in importing coal from Indonesia because it considers its quality to be high," Indonesian Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said after the meeting yesterday.

Croatia needs an estimated 1.5 million tons of coal annually.

"President Soeharto in principle agreed with Croatia's wish, and it will be done through a barter for Croatian goods that we need," Moerdiono said.

Matesa arrived here yesterday for a five-day visit which includes a stopover in Bandung, West Java, and a three-day tour of the holiday island of Bali.

His delegation includes his wife and three cabinet ministers -- Minister of Economy Davor Stern, Minister of Tourism Niko Bulic and Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Communications Zeljko Luzavec.

Indonesia formally recognized Croatia's independence in 1992, but it has not yet established a representative office there. Its affairs are now handled by the Indonesian Embassy in Hungary.

Croatia opened an embassy in Jakarta last year.

With a population of under five million, Croatia is not a prime market for Indonesian products.

However, as Moerdiono pointed out yesterday, economic relations between the two countries should be viewed from a geopolitical context.

"Even though it's a small country, Croatia is well developed in certain fields," Moerdiono remarked.

He said Croatian ports could serve as gateways to the East European market. Croatian ports were about 3,000 kilometers nearer than traditional European ports of entry such as Hamburg.

During the 90-minute meeting between the two heads of state, Matesa told Soeharto that Croatia might be interested in purchasing Indonesian-made airplanes from the IPTN factory in Bandung.

Moerdiono said Indonesia had expressed interest in Croatian made ships: "Basically the two leaders agreed to study the possibility of Indonesia acquiring fishing boats from Croatia, because in this field they are extremely developed."

The two leaders also agreed to forge closer cooperation on human resources development.

Matesa will fly to Bandung this morning to inspect the IPTN airplane factory before flying directly to Bali where he will spend the rest of the day on the golf course.

He will fly to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday for the next leg of his tour.

Moerdiono also told journalists yesterday that Mongolian President Punsalmaagiin Ochirbai would arrive Monday in Jakarta.

The President will be accompanied by his wife and a 35-person delegation during his three-day state visit. (mds)