Indonesia luring U.S. investors to return
Indonesia luring U.S. investors to return
By Imanuddin
WASHINGTON (JP): Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi
Ramelan has invited American businesspeople to return to
Indonesia and put in more investment.
"I invite all of you to come to Indonesia, find out and
understand the real conditions and invest there," Rahardi,
leading an Indonesian trade delegation, told a business forum
here on Tuesday.
The minister acknowledged that the Indonesian economic crisis
and reports of unrest and political uncertainties had discouraged
investors from doing business in Indonesia.
"Many leading U.S. industrialists went and invested, but, sad
to say, today most are divesting and waiting to see what
conditions are like after the upcoming general election, slated
for June 7," he said.
But he believed that the causes of unrest could be addressed
and confidence would then return to the country.
Speaking of various outbreaks of unrest in several parts of
Indonesia that had become the source of investor fears, Rahardi
said they could not be described as typically Indonesian.
"The unrest did not represent the real situation in
Indonesia," he said, while noting that the recent riot in
downtown Chicago did not represent the whole American community
either.
The trade delegation, which includes 23 leading Indonesian
manufacturers and exporters, called on U.S. trade representative
Charlene Barshefsky and other U.S. officials. They also met the
ASEAN-U.S. Business Forum in Washington during the visit.
In his speech Rahardi also acknowledged that the monetary
crisis jolting Indonesia since July 1997 has seriously affected
the industrial, business and trading sectors as well the
Indonesian people.
"Several promising sectors such as automotives and electronics
have only been utilizing less than 15 percent of their industrial
capacity due to the sharp fall in the domestic market and
problems in raw material procurement," the minister said.
"Almost nobody bought cars last year due to declining
purchasing power," he added.
He said the economic crisis has also substantially affected
the people's standard of living. "There are a lot of children who
are unable to go to school because of decreasing parental
income," he said.
Rahardi, however, guaranteed that there would be no
significant changes in economic policies in the future,
especially with a new government arising from the upcoming
general election.
"The economic professionals will still be there, while the
economic players will be the same," he said.
The Indonesian businessmen urged their American counterparts
to continue buying Indonesian products to help revive Indonesia's
ailing economy.
"Only with customer support can Indonesian business and the
economy sustain itself and survive the economic crisis,"
Manimaren, a director of the Texmaco textile and garment company,
said.
He cited the need for the U.S. government to remove trade
barriers such as import restrictions imposed on Indonesian
textile products.
"By the time the textile quota is removed, Indonesia will be
one of the largest textile exporters in the world," he said in an
Indonesian business forum.
Anton J. Supit, chairman of the Indonesian Footwear
Association, said Indonesian products were competitive quality-
wise and cheaper than similar products of other countries.
"Last year, our company sold shoes which were five to 15
percent lower in price than equivalent products of a similar
quality offered by China," he said, while noting that 35 percent
to 40 percent of the popular Nike shoes sold on the world market
were made in Indonesia.