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"If AIDA cooperation was revoked, we -- particularly the entrepreneurs in the eastern part of Indonesia -- would not be negatively affected," Ferdi was quoted by Antara as saying.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)