Kalla expects strong growth next year

Kalla expects strong growth next year

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi (JP): The newly appointed Minister of
Trade and Industry Jusuf Kalla, said he was upbeat that
Indonesian's economy would be more stable next year.

He attributed his optimism to the recent significant
improvement in Indonesia's social, security and political
situations.

"I believe Indonesia's economy will be more stable next
year ... The establishment of the new government under Gus Dur
(President Abdurrahman Wahid) has resulted in the recovery of the
country's social and political conditions," he told The Jakarta
Post over the weekend.

He was also optimistic that foreign investors and traders, who
were previously worried about conducting businesses in Indonesia
due to such uncertainty, would soon reenter the country.

Kalla acknowledged that it would take years to bring the
country's economy, which has been hit by crisis since late 1997,
back to its pre-crisis level.

But he added that the recovery process could be speeded up if
the new government was able to appropriate policies in dealing
with the crisis.

In order to accelerate the country's economic growth, his
office has begun to establish business contacts with Indonesia's
main trade partners such as Japan, Taiwan and the United States.

The ministry had also conducted intensive discussions with
local and international business players as well as the regional
banking industry and the World Bank, he said.

Kalla met the World Bank's director for Asia Pacific Hubert
Neiss during the latter's visit to Indonesia last week.

Kalla, a renowned native businessman himself, also predicted
the country's trade and industry would be able to register
stronger growth next year following the impact of the improvement
of people's buying power.

"I see some factories have resumed their production activities
in response to an increase in demand," he said.

Not all of the country's economic sectors were frail, he said,
adding that several sectors, such as agriculture, were not
affected by the crisis and thus continued to record good growth.

When asked about the government's plan to open trade
relationships with Israel, Kalla asserted that it was never meant
to deflate Indonesia's good relationship with Palestine.

"It will only be a trade cooperation, not a diplomatic
relationship. The trade cooperation with Israel would be no
different from that with China or Taiwan," he added. (27/cst)