Indonesia may review economic cooperation with Australia
Indonesia may review economic cooperation with Australia
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia might review its regional economic
cooperation with the northern part of Australia if political
relations between the two countries continue to worsen over the
East Timor issue.
Ferdi Tanoni, chairman of a joint communication forum of local
businessmen and their counterparts from northern Australia, said
in Kupang on Friday that the termination of the regional
cooperation would not affect Indonesia.
Indonesia and Australia established in 1996 an economic
cooperation zone called Australia-Indonesia Development Area
(AIDA), which covers eastern part of Indonesia and the northern
part of Australia.
"If AIDA cooperation was revoked, we -- particularly the
entrepreneurs in the eastern part of Indonesia -- would not be
negatively affected," Ferdi was quoted by Antara as saying.
He said the two countries had never had any significant or
concrete economic relationship anyway since the AIDA agreement
was signed in 1997 in Ambon.
"Only that the Australian government sent some consuls to the
Eastern part of Indonesia," he said.
To replace AIDA, Indonesia could form a new economic
cooperation with countries under the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (ASEAN) should Indonesia's diplomatic relations
with Australia end, according to Ferdi.
The intervention of the Australian government over the East
Timor issue, he said, was way out of proportion and it could
jeopardize the plan to form a sister-city arrangement between
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara and Palmerstone, northern Australia.
Meanwhile, East Java's vice governor of economic and
development cooperation, Mohammad Zuhdi, said the sister-province
arrangement between East Java province and Western Australia had
been temporarily suspended.
He said the suspension would not hurt East Java since trade
between the two regions had so far been in Western Australia's
favor.
In 1998, Western Australian exports to East Java stood at
US$240 million while its imports from East Java totaled $171
million.
In a related development, the state government of Queensland,
Australia, said on Friday that it had recalled its two trade
officers from Jakarta and Semarang and would review whether it
would maintain its sister-province relationship with the
Indonesian province of Central Java, according to the Dow Jones
Newswires.
The news agency said that in its review, the Queensland
government would consider recommendations from the two recalled
trade officers.
"The review will include whether the offices remain open, but
more importantly, where our future relationship with Indonesia
goes," a spokesman for Deputy Premier Jim Elderthe was quoted as
saying.
Queensland has had a sister-state relationship since 1992 with
Central Java. (udi)