Kim supports Indonesia's national car project
Kim supports Indonesia's national car project
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting South Korean President Kim Dae-jung
said his government would give full support to Indonesia's
efforts to revive its national car project, a joint venture with
South Korea's Kia Motors Co.
Kim said he agreed with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid
that Indonesia's national car project, which faltered following
the fall of former president Soeharto, should be resumed.
"The Korean government will be doing whatever it can to ensure
that the resumption is successful," he told journalists after
meeting with Abdurrahman.
Indonesia's national car program, run by former president
Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, was
suspended in 1998 in line with economic reforms required by the
International Monetary Fund in exchange for billions of dollars
in loans to Indonesia.
Tommy is currently at large after being convicted for
corruption.
The project has since been taken over by the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
Kim also said economic ties between the two countries should
be boosted. Both countries were badly hit by the Asian financial
crisis.
"We agreed to work out measures to further expand trade and
investment between the two countries which dwindled during the
financial crisis in 1997," Kim said.
Trade between the two countries, which plummeted from US$ 7.7
billion to US$ 4.8 billion during the downturn, is expected to
reach precrisis levels this year.
Kim, who arrived on Monday for a two-day state visit, said his
visit "has provided an opportunity to raise the friendship
between Korea and Indonesia to a higher level".
In the meeting, the South Korean and Indonesian leaders also
agreed to expand cooperation not only in the business sector, but
also in political and cultural fields.
"President Wahid requested for Korea's expanded investment and
assistance in human resources development in Indonesia ... to
this, I requested the Indonesian government's attention and
assistance to improve the trade and investment environment
including the provision of conditions for Korean companies to
engage in stable business activities here," Kim told the
journalists after the meeting.
The two leaders earlier witnessed the signing of bilateral
agreements on cultural cooperation and extradition by Foreign
Minister Alwi Shihab and his South Korean counterpart Lee Joung-
binn.
Separately, president of the state-owned Korea National Oil
Corporation (KNOC) Ra Byung Sun said his country was interested
in importing more gas from Indonesia.
He said that Korea needed more gas to fulfill the surge in the
demand for gas from the country's power plants. At present, he
said, Korea was spending some $700 million and $1.3 billion to
import oil and gas respectively.
About one tenth of the country's domestic oil and gas needs
was supplied by Indonesia, he explained.
Byung Sun added his company had plans to invest in Indonesia's
oil industry.
"We would like to invest directly in exploration and
development in terms of production of oil blocks that we can
operate directly," Byung Sun told The Jakarta Post after a
business forum on Indonesia's investment opportunities, held by
the Indonesia-Korea Economic Cooperation Committee (Inkorecom).
He said KNOC was looking at several projects in Indonesia to
invest in the operation of oil blocks as well as engage in
exploration activities.
Chairman of the Korea Indonesia Economic Cooperation Committee
(Korinecom) Lee Soo-ho said Indonesia remained an attractive
investment destination because of the country's abundant natural
resources and its vast population.
However, he said Korean investors were concerned over the
rapid growth of the Indonesia labor unions.
"Your labor movement is one of the issues that we are paying
attention to, it has become stronger and stronger," he said.
Soo-ho said that investors feared unruly labor movements could
disrupt business activities.
"Unreasonable (labor movements) will hurt the circumstances to
invite foreign investors," he explained.
Moo-Young Lee, director at Korea Export Insurance Corporation
said that despite Indonesia's high country risk, his company
enjoyed a relative profitable trade relation with Indonesian
importers.(byg/bkm)