RI considers buying Russian jet fighters

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government is seriously considering buying military equipment, including jet fighters, from Russia in a bid to diversify the sources of its air defense procurement, a senior cabinet minister said yesterday.

State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said he was ordered by President Soeharto to work out the plan after the latter met with Russian President Boris Yeltsin's special envoy Boris Kuzik in February.

In his letter to Soeharto, Yeltsin offered Indonesia Russian- made weapons including jet fighters.

"We want to buy weapons from Russia as part of our efforts to diversify our purchase sources to maintain independence," Ginandjar said after meeting with Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.

To date Indonesia has imported weapons from several countries, including Britain and France, he said.

Last month Ginandjar sent his assistant, Maj. Gen. Rianto, and a 14-strong team to Moscow to study the offer. The team consisted of senior officials from various government agencies.

It concluded that Russian military technology was suitable for Indonesia.

The Russian-made air defense equipment Jakarta is considering buying includes radars, guided missiles and jet fighters, he said.

Ginandjar announced the plan two weeks after Soeharto decided to cancel the purchase of nine United States F-16 jet fighters. The F-16s were originally bound for Pakistan but Washington canceled it due to suspicions that Islamabad was developing nuclear weapons.

Indonesia also canceled participation in the US$600,000 American-run International Military Education and Training Program (IMET) in response to growing criticism of Indonesia in the American Congress.

In his letter to President Bill Clinton, Soeharto said it was the "wholly unjustified criticism in the U.S. Congress against Indonesia which is linked to its participation in the IMET program and the planned purchase of the F-16 planes' as one of the factors that led to this decision."

Ginandjar said the new plan was "not directly related" to the cancellations.

To further study the desired weaponry, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung will visit Moscow later this month before B.J. Habibie, the state minister of research and technology, goes there to make a further assessment.

"The final decision will be made by the President," Ginandjar said.

Ginandjar said the Armed Forces already had Russian military equipment in its arsenal, such as tanks and submarines bought from the former Soviet Union in the 1960s.

"Their technology is very sophisticated and competitive compared with other countries'," he said.

Japan's aid

Ginandjar also spoke yesterday about his recent visit to Tokyo to lobby the Japanese government to maintain the level of its development assistance to Indonesia at least at the same amount as its last year's commitment.

He said that Japan would continue to put Indonesia at the top of its foreign aid priority list, despite Japan's decision to slash its official development assistance (ODA) by as much as 10 percent next year.

"On the national, international and global levels Japan will reduce its amount of foreign aid. But we have asked them not to make an across-the-board aid cut for us," he said.

Ginandjar said Japanese officials had assured him during his visit to Tokyo earlier this month that Indonesia would be given priority to Japan's assistance.

"They have said the aid cut would not be imposed on all countries, but would be based on priorities," he said.

Japan has said its aid cut would mark the first decline in foreign aid in two decades.

The ODA budget will continue to decrease annually over a three-year period. A maximum 10 percent cut was aimed for in the fiscal year 1998/1999, which starts next April.

Ginandjar said he regretted Japan's decision to slash foreign aid, which was done "at a time when developing countries most needed support".

He said he was not disappointed at the possibility of an aid slash for Indonesia, but rather at the overall cut.

"Concerning the amount of aid for Indonesia, it is up to (Japan) to decide," he said.

The Japanese government has allocated 1.17 trillion yen (US$10.2 billion) to its ODA budget for the current fiscal year 1997/1998, which started last April. This amount was up 2.1 percent from the year before.

Indonesia and China are the biggest recipients of Japanese aid.

Ginandjar was in Tokyo to lobby Japan, which is currently the largest donor member of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) creditor consortium.

CGI is scheduled to hold its annual meeting in Tokyo on July 14 to determine the amount of aid for Indonesia for fiscal year 1997/1998.

Last year it pledged over US$5.2 billion in grants and soft loans to Indonesia, of which $1.9 billion or 36.5 percent was committed by Japan.

WB report

Commenting on the World Bank's latest annual report on Indonesia, Ginandjar said he considered the report "balanced".

"But the report is like that every year ... And it often gives recommendations which are not always in line with our policy priorities," he said.

"Some recommendations we can use, but some we can't. Others we can use, but not right now," he said.

The World Bank suggested, among other things that the government raise taxes on urban properties, domestic fuel prices to eliminate subsidies, electricity tariffs and cut down tax exemptions. (06/pwn)