Indonesia's donors agree on urgent need for help

Indonesia's donors agree on urgent need for help

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's traditional aid donors met here
yesterday and broadly agreed on the urgent need to help the
country through the economic crisis, the World Bank said.

The World Bank said in a statement that the meeting set the
scene for the forthcoming meeting of the Consultative Group on
Indonesia (CGI) which the bank chairs.

"International donors today (yesterday) broadly agreed on the
urgent need to help Indonesia through its economic crisis," the
bank said.

The bank said its officials also met yesterday with leaders of
Indonesian civil society to "gauge public opinion on the crisis
and its effects, and to ensure that their views will be
represented at the CGI".

The bank will chair the CGI meeting on July 29 and July 30 in
Paris at which donor countries pledge their aid amounts for next
fiscal year.

The World Bank itself has already pledged US$4.5 billion to
Indonesia over three years. At least $2 billion of that sum is
for fast-disbursing assistance.

It said the Paris meeting would be the most important
gathering of Indonesia's donors in decades as the country faced a
serious risk of retreating into widespread poverty, unemployment
and social dislocation that would be a major reversal after 30
years of economic and social progress.

The agenda of the meeting would be dominated by discussion of
how the donors could assist the government with economic reforms
while at the same time focusing on the social effects of the
crisis and the need to protect the poor.

World Bank chief James Wolfensohn said in his letter of
invitation to the leaders of international donors that the
meeting in Paris was a "critical opportunity for the
international community to support Indonesia in its efforts to
get back on the road to recovery".

"This will require a collaborative effort among all of
Indonesia's development partners, bringing together all of our
collective expertise and experience, as well as our joint
financial resources. It cannot be accomplished by the
multilateral institutions alone."

World Bank country director for Indonesia Dennis de Tray noted
that when donors gather in Paris, "their main task will be to
unite behind a country that finds itself in extraordinary
difficulties, even when measured by the standards prevailing in
East Asia today".

"It is our responsibility to employ all the courage, wisdom,
creativity and generosity we can muster to provide a truly
statesmanlike response to Indonesia's needs."

Leading the World Bank's team to Paris and chairing the
proceedings will be the managing director, Sven Sandstrom,
assisted by the vice president for East Asia and the Pacific,
Jean-Michel Severino, and de Tray.

The CGI was formed in 1990 to replace the Dutch-chaired Inter-
Governmental Group on Indonesia (IGGI) which the government
disbanded in retaliation for what it saw as The Hague's use of
aid as a tool of pressure.

It groups all former members of the IGGI minus the
Netherlands, plus five other new creditors -- South Korea, the
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Saudi Fund for
Development, the Nordic Investment Bank and the Islamic
Development Bank.

Main IGGI creditor countries in the group are Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, England,
Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and the United States. (rid)