RI 'not strong enough' to resist pressures

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto told visiting Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh that Indonesia's economic resilience was not strong enough to resist external pressures.

Soeharto said in their one-hour meeting that he hoped developing countries would learn from Indonesia's experience so they would not make the same mistakes.

President Saleh expressed his sympathy to Indonesia, saying he believed the country would be able to survive the economic turbulence.

"He (Saleh) has a very strong impression that the Indonesian situation is fairly stable, much better than what has been reported by the foreign press," Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said after the two leaders' meeting.

Saleh and his 21-strong entourage arrived in Jakarta Thursday for a four-day state visit.

His entourage includes Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulkarim Al-Eryani, chairman of Yemen's Consultative Council Abdulaziz Abdul Gani, Minister of Industry Ahmad Safan'a, and Minister of Planning and Development Mohammad Ba'jamal.

"Yemen wants to learn from Indonesia and to cooperate on the exploration of oil and natural gas," said Moerdiono.

After the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and his counterpart Al-Eryani signed agreements on trade and the promotion and protection of investment.

They also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the establishment of a joint commission for economic, scientific, technical and commercial cooperation.

Trade between the two countries is still low. Indonesian exports to Yemen stood at US$22.443 million in 1996, while imports were only $18.81 million.

This morning Saleh and his entourage will visit state-owned ship builder PT PAL in Surabaya, East Java, before flying to Bali for a night's rest. They leave Indonesia tomorrow afternoon. (prb)