Indonesia, U.S. engage in week of meetings
Indonesia, U.S. engage in week of meetings
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and the United States are preparing for a flurry of activities this week as Congressional aides, businesspeople and senior officials arrive to take part in talks here and in Bali.
A delegation of six Congressional staffers arrived here yesterday for a week-long "educational trip" which will include visits to development projects in Yogyakarta and Bali.
Sponsored by the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO), the visit is aimed at fostering better economic and political understanding between the two countries.
Among those in the delegation are Elizabeth Lambird, a Republican staffer and director of the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee, and Bill Deere, appropriations associate to Republican Congressman Jim Lightfoot from Iowa.
USINDO officials said academic Douglas Ramage who has written extensively on Indonesian politics will be accompanying the delegation.
Washington-based USINDO was founded in 1984 and is currently presided over by former American ambassador to Jakarta Edward Masters.
An American business delegation, which is part of the ASEAN- U.S. Council, is currently in Indonesia to strengthen commercial ties.
The business delegation will attend a luncheon with Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto here tomorrow afternoon.
They will then depart for the holiday resort island of Bali to engage in Wednesday's ASEAN-U.S. Council meeting.
The Council comprises leading companies with the objective of promoting trade.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is made up of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The highlight of the week will be the 13th meeting of the ASEAN-U.S. dialog group in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday and Friday.
The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific Winston Lord is expected to lead the U.S.delegation.
The foreign ministry's Director General for Political Affairs, Izhar Ibrahim, said ASEAN members will put forth various concerns, including the decline of American developmental assistance to the region.
He said ASEAN members want to stress to Washington that U.S. assistance is still required by some ASEAN states.
Other issues which to be brought up will be security, nuclear power and weaponry and the prospects for the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).
The ARF meeting is scheduled to be held in Jakarta in July.
The issue of nuclear weapons is expected to be high among the priorities, especially with the recently signed treaty of the Southeast Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone by all the states in the region.
Washington has rejected the treaty saying that it is too restrictive.
Gauging the coming dialog, political analyst Hero Kuntjoro- Jakti does not expect ASEAN to have much leverage in getting what it wants from the U.S.
"There are not many cards they can lay on the table," the University of Indonesia's international affairs lecturer told The Jakarta Post.
He pointed out the fact that, despite pleas from ASEAN, the Republican party in the U.S. is against any marked increase of overseas developmental assistance.
He also said that it is odd that in the post-Cold War era the ASEAN states are actually trying to tug superpower influence back into the region. (mds)