Indonesia, Malaysia vow to boost trade amid Ambalat row

Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite recent tensions, Malaysia and Indonesia are determined to strengthen bilateral trade and investment ties, with top officials from the two countries insisting the Ambalat Block dispute had no bearing on trade relations.

"This (Ambalat) issue should not distract us from the big potential (for trade) that we have. Ambalat is one issue. Why should one small incident matter in the larger context of trade," Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry Rafidah Aziz said in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Rafidah said every country had differences with their neighbors -- with one example being the U.S. and Mexico. "They have had prolonged problems, but that does not affect their trade relations," she said after meeting with Indonesian Minister of Trade Mari E. Pangestu.

Mari said the Ambalat case had nothing to do with trade.

"This is strictly a business-to-business matter," she said.

The Ambalat dispute began last month when Malaysia's state owned Petronas awarded production sharing contracts to Shell in the East Ambalat offshore oil field. Indonesia claims the block is in its exclusive economic zone.

The dispute prompted the two nations to deploy warships to the area, accusing each other of trespassing before later agreeing to settle the case through talks.

The governments officially began talks Tuesday in Bali; the same day Rafidah headed a business delegation of about 100 Malaysian private sector representatives to Jakarta.

Tuesday's mission was the third consecutive business visit in the past three years.

The Malaysian delegation talked about increasing imports of manufactured goods from Malaysia to Indonesia in return for more agricultural and raw material exports from Indonesia.

They met Indonesian businesspeople during the "Malaysia- Indonesia Business Opportunities" seminar held on Tuesday by the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Indonesia-Malaysia Joint Business Council and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Rafidah, Mari and Kadin chairman Mohammad S. Hidayat spoke at the seminar.

"I mean business. I know you businesspeople cannot afford to wait. Time is money for you. You are duty bound to let me know of the problems you are facing. I am here to be bothered by your problems," Rafidah said to the amusement of a 300-strong audience.

The business opportunities were there, she said. Businesses just needed to know where.

"However, many Indonesian firms seem reluctant to visit Malaysia to promote themselves, whereas Malaysian companies are very aggressive," said Rafidah, who has been a minister for 18 years.

Rafidah said after many meetings and negotiations Malaysian firms had eventually established businesses with Thailand as the Thais were more aggressive than Indonesians.

"Indonesian representatives should stop visiting Malaysia for the purposes of comparative studies or good-will tours. Come to Malaysia to make business deals. Good will alone would not boost trade," she said.

Indonesian firms could cooperate with Malaysian firms in the agro-business, information technology, communications, education, health care and construction sectors, she said.