RI and Australia agree to economic cooperation

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the Australia-Indonesia Development Area (AIDA) business forum have agreed on a package of economic cooperation to develop Indonesia's eastern provinces and the Australian continent.

The agreement was reached Saturday at the forum's first meeting in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara. At the meeting, the Australian delegation was led by John Dauth while that of Indonesia was headed by Bachrum S. Harahap, a senior assistant to the coordinating minister for production and distribution.

Iman Taufik, the vice chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the forum's members agreed to cooperate in tourism, agriculture, fishery, husbandry, mines (including the exploitation of Timor Gap's oil reserve), transportation, education and training.

The businesspeople said both countries had potential which had not been fully realized, he said, adding that Australia, for example, had technology, better human resources, management and international market network, from which Indonesia could benefit.

"The main problem is that both countries have not yet seriously promoted their potentials to each other," Iman was quoted by Antara as saying.

In the past, Indonesia's eastern provinces and Australia had difficulties promoting economic cooperation due to transportation restraints.

"Now the problem has been solved with the opening of the Darwin-Mataram flight path," he said.

Iman acknowledged there was a cultural gap between both countries but said such a weakness could be solved if both countries improved their mutual understanding.

"That is to say, the cultural difference should not interfere with the cooperation we are building," he said.

Indonesia and Australia established the AIDA growth zone last year after several official meetings since 1993.

Indonesia is also engaged in three subregional growth zones within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). One growth zone covers southern Thailand, Indonesian provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, and Penang in Malaysia. Another zone covers Singapore, the Malaysian state of Johor and Indonesia's Riau province. The third zone covers the southern Philippines, Brunei, the eastern Malaysian states of Sabah and Serawak and the Indonesian provinces of Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

Iman said in order for the growth zone to succeed, Indonesia needed to create an attractive business climate in its provinces and revoke unsuitable local laws.

"Many local laws don't support investment," he said. "Many investors cancel their investments once they arrive in the provinces. The local laws still impede their investments even though they have licenses from Jakarta," he said.

The government is currently proposing a bill on provincial taxes as part of the government's commitment to eliminate levies collected by the provincial administrations.

There are around 4,000 provincial laws and 300 district laws in the country's 27 provinces at present. Most issued regulations legalize the levies imposed by the provinces. (jsk)