Investors, where are you?

Investors, where are you?

From Pelita

When President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid went on successive
tours of many countries, many people, including Speaker of the
People's Consultative Assembly Amien Rais, voiced sharp
criticism. They said Gus Dur should focus on the situation at
home instead of traveling abroad.

Gus Dur replied nonchalantly that the visits were in the
context of evaluating the chaotic conditions in the country. The
understanding was that the visits would immediately result in
businesspeople flocking to Indonesia to invest.

We accepted the explanation, and we even acquiesced to Gus
Dur's promises. While abroad, he said that then coordinating
minister for politics and security Wiranto should resign to save
himself and also to encourage the investors to return.

It was said that Indonesia was being put under duress. Wiranto
was suspected of human rights violations, and thus investors
would not be willing to come to Indonesia.

Despite Gus Dur's many foreign visits, and the fact that
Wiranto is no longer minister, there are no signs of foreign
investors coming to our shores. Where are they? Apparently there
is no certainty on that score. Unemployment remains on the
increase, crime abounds and killings and torture go unabated
everywhere.

What can we get now? Well, apparently Gus Dur is busy with his
own job. He is worried that his presidency will be scuttled by
the military. The proof? Instead of opening up fields of work and
showing evidence of the flow of investors, he continues to talk
only about politics, such as a military district commander who is
supposedly threatening to undermine his power.

DIDI DARMADI

Jakarta