Observers split on success of Megawati's trip

Kurniawan Hari and A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite all the fanfare, international affairs observers have reservations about the effectiveness of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's ongoing visit to four Asian countries, namely China, North Korea, South Korea and India.

International affairs observer Juwono Sudarsono has hailed the visit, saying it would improve the image of Indonesia internationally.

Juwono from the University of Indonesia said on Sunday that Indonesia's initiative to encourage peace talks between South Korea and North Korea was positive.

"That is good, but its response fully depends on the internal condition of the two Koreas," Juwono told The Jakarta Post.

Juwono, a former defense minister, said that despite the number of agreements reached, the success of the trip could only be measured in the future.

"There are several agreements. But, I think the achievement will depend on our own internal capacity," he said, implying that the number of agreements did not necessarily equate to significant achievements.

However, fellow scholar Bantarto said that nothing much could be expected from the visits to the four nations because "the visits lack focus."

"The visits are merely aimed at expanding bilateral ties between Indonesia and each of the four countries as Indonesia needs diplomatic recognition from the respective countries," Bantarto, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told the Post.

Bantarto said the visits did not show a clear platform as to what benefits Megawati wanted to achieve.

For example, "Megawati should have carefully chosen countries that could help Indonesia boost its economic performance," he said.

Her visit to China would not bring much impact since Indonesia, under Abdurrahman Wahid, had laid the foundations for bilateral investment.

"Her visit to North Korea does not end up in any benefits since it is merely a nostalgic visit," he said.

Separately, social observer Alexander Irwan said that Megawati's visit would not help boost investment in Indonesia, except if the Indonesian government scrapped discriminatory rulings on Chinese communities back home.

"No significant investments would flow to Indonesia, except if Indonesia improves its social and economic infrastructures," he said, after addressing a discussion entitled "Doing trade with China" at the Hotel Peninsula in Jakarta.

Irwan expressed confidence the abolition of discrimination enshrined in Indonesian law would increase the confidence of Chinese overseas to invest more in Indonesia.

The rulings, that needed revoking, included Law No. 62/1958 on Citizenship obliging Indonesians of Chinese descent to have documents normally not required for "indigenous" Indonesians, he said.

"Indonesian Chinese have formed networks with Chinese from Hong Kong, Singapore and others, who control the majority of investments in Indonesia."

Wilson Nababan, a marketing researcher at CIC-Corinthian, said that Megawati's visit to China would certainly bring positive results for Indonesians.

"The visit opens up investment opportunities for Indonesians," he told reporters after the discussion.

Currently, for example, China's motorcycle manufacturing industry was growing steadily, he said.

"Indonesia could produce and provide components, such as tires, brakes and other components for this growing industry."