Israeli trade delegation visits Indonesia

Israeli trade delegation visits Indonesia

JERUSALEM (Reuters): An Israeli delegation has gone to Indonesia to look into opening up trade relations between the Jewish state and the world's largest Muslim country, a foreign ministry official said on Sunday.

"It is the beginning of some kind of relationship between Israel and Indonesia in the economic and commerce sectors," she said.

Almost immediately after being elected in October, the new Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid publicly expressed interest in opening economic and trade relations with Israel, which led to this trip, the official said.

Indonesia subsequently postponed the plan after an uproar among Muslim groups opposed to any links with the Jewish state. Opponents have staged repeated demonstrations against the proposed ties.

Although the Israeli trip is no secret -- Abdurrahman is aware of the trade meetings that are to take place -- Israeli officials are not pleased the information reached the media before the delegation's return, the foreign ministry official said.

"We wanted it to be publicized after they returned," she said. "But Wahid claims he can deal with the protests...I still hope there won't be protests while they are there."

Because of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Indonesia has not wanted formal relations with Israel.

But Abdurrahman, who has made clear that pulling Indonesia out of its worst economic crisis in more than 30 years is his top priority, sees Israel as a potentially lucrative export market, the foreign ministry official said.

Representatives from the Industry and Trade Ministry and the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce are included in the delegation which left for Indonesia on Saturday.

The Israelis, guests of Indonesian regional chambers of commerce, will investigate areas that could be of interest to Israeli businesses, such as agriculture, telecommunications and high-tech, the official said.

Indonesia has already started allowing Israelis to receive visas directly from its embassies, she said. Until now, Israelis had to go through Jordan or Singapore to enter Indonesia.

However, Israel is still officially on the list of countries Indonesians are not allowed to trade with, the official said. Israel in response requires Indonesian businesses to receive special licenses to export to Israel.

Israeli Industry and Trade Minister Ran Cohen said last week he had met his Indonesian counterpart at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle and the Indonesian minister had expressed great interest in relations with Israel.

"We think this is an area of huge economic potential, billions of dollars," said Uri Stein, the ministry's spokesman.