Lee concludes Indonesian trip
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong held talks with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid on Tuesday, the last day of his visit aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.
Kalla told the press after his meeting with the prime minister that Lee had expressed a desire to build sound relations with Indonesia.
"We were discussing ways on how to improve our economic ties and I asked Singapore to boost investment in Indonesia," Kalla said
"The prime minister fully understands that there are a lot of things that our government has to do, especially in the political and legal fields, to attract investors," the Vice President said.
Lee arrived here on Monday for a two-day visit and held talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono immediately. During the meeting, the two heads of government agreed to tackle bilateral issues rationally and to avoid "megaphone" diplomacy.
An extradition treaty and illegal sand imports are just two of bilateral issues that the two countries need to resolve.
Singapore has so far allegedly refused to include economic crimes in the draft of an extradition treaty between the two countries.
Indonesia has also accused Singapore of buying sand illegally mined and exported by Indonesian businessmen for reclamation projects, which affects the demarcation of the seas between the two countries.
Both leaders also assigned their economics ministers to explore the potential of further cooperation between the two countries, and will ask for reports after three months.
During a meeting with House Speaker Agung Laksono, Lee congratulated Indonesia on its successful elections in 2004.
"Lee congratulated the nation on its new president and new leaders of the legislative bodies. He showed an interest in learning about Indonesia's political system," Agung announced after meeting the prime minister on Tuesday.
Indonesia earned international praise for its successful elections -- the legislative elections in April 2004, the first round of the direct presidential election on July 5 and the second round on Sept. 20.
The elections, which were widely monitored by foreign and local independent observers, proceeded peacefully and without major disturbances.
Agung said that Lee also expressed a desire to maintaining relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Hidayat said he had urged Lee to help Indonesia eradicate corruption in the country, which has been blamed for pushing the country's economy to near bankruptcy.
The Berlin-based Transparency International has consistently placed Indonesia among the world's most corrupt countries in the world in the past few years. President Susilo, who took his oath of office on Oct. 20, made corruption eradication a top priority of his first 100 days in power.
Hidayat said Singapore could help eradicate rampant corruption here by signing an extradition treaty with Indonesia.
Several suspected corrupters and other white-collar criminals have escaped trial by fleeing to Singapore.
Lee left Indonesia for Thailand on Tuesday afternoon.