Lee concludes Indonesian trip
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.