On this auspicious day of the French National Day, I would

On this auspicious day of the French National Day, I would
like to recall that the French Revolution's universal message of
freedom inspired many peoples' struggles for their own
independence, among them Indonesia. Thanks to a number of very
important reforms, this country is now on the way to completing
its democratic transition: the president and vice president will,
for the first time, be directly elected next year, there will be
a new set of legislative institutions, a new law on political
parties has been adopted and a constitutional court will soon be
created. Let me assure you that France is as committed as ever to
support Indonesia in its endeavors to consolidate democracy,
preserve its national integrity in the respect of human rights
and reinvigorate its economy.

I would also like to stress that concerning our bilateral
relations, there are no matters in dispute. Regarding the most
important events which took place on the international scene in
the last months, I am pleased to note that French and Indonesian
positions were quite similar. The recent visit of the Indonesian
foreign affairs minister, M. Hassan Wirayuda, to Paris on July 4,
which will have a follow-up with the French junior minister of
foreign affairs coming to Jakarta at the end of this month, bore
testimony to the excellence of relations between our two
countries.

Presently, there are over 100 French companies operating in
Indonesia, most of them having set up their activities before the
crisis years but having decided to weather the difficult
transition period in their trust of the potential of the
Indonesian market.

The commitment seems to have paid off, since most of the
French companies are already back to their pre-crisis level of
activities and that new French investments have started to flow
into Indonesia since 2001. Actually, according to BKPM figures,
excluding the oil and gas sector in which TotalFinaElf has been a
leading operator for years, France has been the largest investor
to Indonesia in 2002 (while remaining at the 7th rank for
consolidated FDIs).

Trade between France and Indonesia is still very much in favor
of Jakarta, with Indonesian exports outranking French sales by a
2 to 1 margin, although French products are increasingly
successful, not only in the traditional areas of capital
equipment machinery and technology (energy, transportation,
health), but also in the newly consumer-driven market for upscale
fashion, cosmetics, design, telecommunications, automotive and
food products.

Cooperation between France and Indonesia in the cultural,
scientific and technical fields is now experiencing steady
development. The number of agreements between universities of
both countries is constantly increasing. Indonesian students more
frequently choose France to continue their studies. Regular
exchanges are taking place between French and Indonesian experts
in such fields as constitutional law, judicial system,
decentralization and financial law.

At the cultural level, the annual French film festival is a
privileged event which allows recent French productions to become
available for the Indonesian public and thus partakes of the
dialog between cultures underlying our cooperation policy.

Lastly, there are our four cultural centers (Jakarta, Bandung,
Yogyakarta and Surabaya) which offer a diverse set of programs
that encourage exchanges between creative people from our two
countries.(KBP)

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