RI, E. Timor agree on assets conversion
RI, E. Timor agree on assets conversion
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia and East Timor agreed on Tuesday to convert Indonesian
assets in East Timor, mostly corporate assets, into equity
investment in the newly born state.
Concluding the first joint commission meeting on Tuesday, the
delegations of both countries agreed to further discussions
within the next six months.
"Both parties agreed in principle to find innovative
settlement on corporate assets through conversion of those assets
for Indonesian investment including joint ventures," a joint
statement issued after the meeting said.
Speaking at a press conference with his counterpart Jose Ramos
Horta, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said the
equity would then be managed by a future joint venture company
between Indonesia and East Timor.
The assets in question ranged from buildings to gas stations
belonging to Indonesian state-owned companies.
The proposal to transform the assets into equity came from the
Indonesian side.
East Timor, meanwhile, proposed that both countries reduce the
number of troops on both sides of their border, with Indonesia
agreeing to the proposal.
The two countries also agreed to discuss and settle land
borders within a working group. This group would meet in November
to determine the demarcation lines.
They also agreed to discuss future cooperation in legal and
judicial issues.
"The meeting took note of the importance of the two countries
working together to make every effort to finalize an agreement on
cooperation in legal and judicial matters," the statement said.
The meeting deferred talks on resolving other contentious
issues such as those on sea borders, traditional people's
movement across the borders and pension funds for East Timorese
civil servants and soldiers, who were working for the Indonesian
government before the territory voted to separate from Indonesia
in 1999.
Discussion on maritime borders would start in the first half
of next year.
On people movement and trade between East Timor and
Indonesian-controlled West Timor, the two countries agreed that
it would be conducted under Indonesian regulations until a new
arrangement was reached.
Regarding refugees, both parties agreed problems would be
settled by the end of the year.
East Timor president Xanana Gusmao, a former independence
guerrilla who spent seven years in an Indonesian jail, is due to
visit West Timor later this month to encourage more refugees to
return home.
East timor agreed on Tuesday to preserve the Seroja cemetery
where Indonesian soldiers killed in East Timor are buried, at the
expense of the Indonesian government and give Indonesians access
to the compound.
The next round of talks are expected to be held in Dili, East
Timor.