Mondale in town to discuss monetary crisis

JAKARTA (JP): Former U.S. vice president Walter Mondale arrived yesterday as a special envoy from President Bill Clinton to discuss Indonesia's economic crisis with President Soeharto.

Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai also flew in yesterday and was immediately received by the President.

Mondale, who is scheduled to meet with Soeharto this morning, has reportedly been given a broad mandate by Clinton to discuss economic as well as political issues with the Indonesian leader.

The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta gave little detail about Mondale's itinerary, but said that he would brief the media after his meeting with Soeharto today.

In Washington, a White House spokesman said the trip reflected U.S. concerns about developments in Indonesia, the need for change and America's strategic interests in Indonesia.

Mondale was vice president during the Carter administration and served as U.S. ambassador to Japan between 1993 and 1996.

He will be accompanied by Treasury Undersecretary David Lipton and Stanley Roth, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, according to Reuters.

Mondale and Chuan are the latest in a long line of heads of governments, or their emissaries, to call on Soeharto over the past few weeks as international concerns grow over the worsening economic crisis in Indonesia.

Some of these leaders have also expressed concerns over Indonesia's plan to peg the rupiah under the currency board system, which they fear could worsen the crisis.

Soeharto has not decided whether to adopt it but he has allayed concerns by saying that he would not use the system without the support of the International Monetary Fund, which has organized a US$43 billion rescue package for Indonesia.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said Chuan conveyed his moral support for Soeharto during their 75-minute meeting.

Chuan, who was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Panitchakdi and Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, also pledged to donate 5,000 tons of rice and some medical supplies to Indonesia.

Thailand is a major exporter of rice, a commodity which is now in short supply in Indonesia following harvest failures caused by the prolonged dry season last year.

"The President and Thailand's prime minister agreed that there should be greater efforts to enhance the exchange of goods and commodities among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)," Supachai said. (prb/emb)