Iraq mulls plan to buy RI telecommunications equipment
Iraq mulls plan to buy RI telecommunications equipment
BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Iraq is considering to buy
telecommunications equipment from Indonesia to rehabilitate its
telecommunications facilities.
Iraqi Ambassador to Indonesia Sadoon Al Zubaydi said early
this week his government was still studying the plan, which would
involve transactions worth millions of U.S. dollars.
"We chose Indonesia because of its proximity and the fact that
Indonesia has a good telecommunications industry," the ambassador
said after meeting several producers of telecommunications
equipment in the provincial capital of West Java.
He said the telecommunications sector was the top priority to
Iraqi national development as most of its telecommunications
facilities were demolished by the war in the early 90s.
Besides Indonesia, Iraq is also considering Malaysia and South
Korea to be its telecommunications infrastructure supplier,
Zubaydi said.
Rahardjo Pratjihno, the chairman of the Association of
Indonesian Electronics and Telecommunications Industry, said Bank
Indonesia had signed a memorandum of understanding with its Iraqi
counterpart on how payments for the planned equipment purchase
would be conducted.
Pratjihno said the Indonesian telecommunications industry
would supply, among other things, digital microwaves,
broadcasting equipment, public phone terminals and traffic
lights.
"Besides the equipment, we are also ready to supply them with
a planning system as well as a telecommunications operating
system," he said.
He estimated Indonesia could raise as much as US$1 billion
from telecommunications equipment exports to Iraq in a period of
three to four years.
All bilateral trade between Iraq and other countries,
including Indonesia, must have approval from the United Nations,
he added.
Indonesia's exports to Iraq totaled US$45.6 million in 1998,
or less than one percent of the country's total export figure,
according to official data.
Imports from Iraq to Indonesia amounted to $47,000 in 1998, a
significant fall from $36 million in the previous year. (udi/25)