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)