well, actually, they *did* make a balls up of indonesia! megawati's term as president is widely viewed as a failure in most respects, and we really don't want to get into what Prabowo did during his time as a pillar of the Orde Baru.
Mon, 25 May 2009
JAKCHAT/Indonesians should follow the Japanese in curtailing foreign businesses: Prabowo
Prabowo Subianto said Sunday American retailer Wal-Mart's collapse in Japan was a good example for Indonesia of scaling back the expansion of foreign retailers while simultaneously supporting local market traders in the country.
“What the Japanese did was a good example of nationalism. They knew that shopping at Wal-Mart would be bad for local farmers and stores,” said the running mate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri at a talk show held at The Jakarta Playhouse (GKJ).
Reuters earlier reported that Wal-Mart would be closing up to 20 unprofitable outlets and cutting 6 percent of its workforce as it struggles in Japan.
“I realize that we can hardly stop foreign incursion. Indonesia plunged into the global market so long ago; therefore, we cannot stop all imports very easily. And we could possibly collapse if foreign countries declined to accept our exports,” the Great Indonesia Movement Party's (Gerindra) patron said.
“We just have to remember that if we shop at foreign superstores, our farmers and small market traders will cry. The Japanese example is a good example of nationalism. If we follow suit, foreign expansion can be curtailed,” Prabowo said. (bbs)
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