Mega promises U.S. investors better security at home
By Fabiola Desy Unidjaja
HOUSTON, Texas (JP): President Megawati Soekarnoputri promised U.S. investors that her administration would work hard to improve the security situation in Indonesia in a bid to attract more investment.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that the assurances were given at a business luncheon here on Saturday with some 40 U.S. businessmen, including top officials of U.S. oil and mining giants such as ExxonMobil, Freeport, Unocal, Conoco, Shell, and Texaco.
"The main point is we want to build a stronger relationship with investors, and to assure them that we'll protect their investments in our country," Purnomo told reporters.
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayudha said Indonesia would ratify several UN conventions on terrorism to provide the country with a legal basis in its fight against terrorism.
Megawati is scheduled to meet with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday to ratify the conventions at the UN headquarters in New York, Hassan said as quoted by Antara.
The relatively poor security situation and political instability in the country following the 1997 economic crisis and the downfall of former authoritarian president Soeharto has been one factor discouraging investors from entering the country and existing investors from increasing their investments.
Megawati was set to open the Houston Energy Conference on Sunday (late Sunday Jakarta time).
"At the conference, we'll announce the opening of bidding for 17 new oil blocks in Indonesia," Purnomo said.
The government said earlier this year that it would offer some 23 new oil and gas exploration blocks in a bid to boost domestic oil output in the future.
The tender for nine oil blocks was opened in March. But a government source said that the government could only complete the bidding on six blocks, while the remaining three blocks would be retendered together with the other 14 blocks.
The government has yet to formally announce the winning bidders for the six blocks, but reports said that the winners included BP, Conoco, Amerada Hess, Zodan N.V., and Zudavi N.V.
Analysts have said that improved security is a key prerequisite for attracting new investment into the country's oil and gas sector.
The business luncheon was hosted by ExxonMobil, which earlier this year suspended its gas operation in troubled Aceh province for a few months due to security concerns, although the company has recently resumed some of its operations.
The governors of Aceh and Irian Jaya provinces, Abdullah Puteh and J.P. Sallosa respectively, also attended the luncheon. Separatist groups in the two mineral-rich provinces have been stepping up the pressure for independence over recent years.
Abdullah said that he was invited by ExxonMobil to meet the company's board of directors in Houston.
"I'm going to explain to them that the security situation in Aceh is improving, and that there was no reason for ExxonMobil not to fully operate its refineries in Aceh," he said.
On Saturday, ExxonMobil also arranged a rodeo show for Megawati at the Humble Civic Arena.
Wearing a cowboy hat, which was presented by ExxonMobil vice president Harry Longwell, Megawati seemed to enjoy the rodeo.
Megawati's visit to the U.S. is being made as that country lays plans to attack Afghanistan, which has been a refuge for Saudi Arabian born multimillionaire Osama bin Laden, who has been named as the prime suspect in Sept. 11's devastating attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
There have been fears that Megawati will face difficulties at home from Muslim hard-liners if the U.S. does attack Afghanistan.
Megawati will leave the U.S. for Japan on Sept. 25 after visiting New York the day before to lay a wreathe at the site of the ruined WTC towers.
Earlier, the U.S. President George W. Bush promised Megawati to restore U.S. military aid and pledged financial aid.