RI vows to restore leadership role

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri vowed on Friday to restore the country's international stature by consistently adhering to a free and active foreign policy in dealing with neighbors and other foreign states.

Delivering her progress report before members of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Megawati said she wanted Indonesia to be a leader in the Southeast Asia region and be able to strike a balance between economic development and the enhancement of its necessary supporting infrastructure.

"A new pillar will be established as regards the institutional and procedural aspects, which will mainly deal with conflict resolution mechanisms in the political and security spheres," Megawati said.

According to the President, the strategic objective of the new pillar would be to strengthen the existing ones, namely the Bali Concord and the Bali Treaty of Amity and Cooperation enunciated during the Bali ASEAN Summit in 1976.

"The concept of the new pillar is under serious consideration both within and among ASEAN countries," she said.

Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, was once seen as having the potential to take its place among the ranks of the "Asian Tigers".

Former president Soeharto, who ruled the country for more than three decades, was also recognized as one of the most influential leaders in the region.

The country, however, lost international respect in 1997 when it plunged into a deep economic crisis that led to Soeharto's downfall in May 1998.

With the country growing increasingly stable, Indonesia is now trying to regain its international good standing by taking a number of international initiatives.

Indonesia has tried to thaw the diplomatic stand-off between South Korea and North Korea, and diffuse the North Korean nuclear crisis. As ASEAN chairman, Indonesia has also taken the lead in the attempts to secure the release of Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Su Kyi, who has been detained by Myanmar's military junta since May 30.

Indonesia, together with South Africa, organized the first Asian-African Sub Regional Organization Conference (AASROC) in Bandung, West Java, early this week.

Dozens of Asian and African countries attended the meeting, during which they agreed to bolster cooperation between the two continents, especially in dealing with international issues.

"We are building a strategic bridge to enable substantive and concrete cooperation between Asia and Africa," Megawati said.

She stressed that cordial relations with ASEAN countries continued to be the cornerstone of the country's foreign policy

Megawati also said that Indonesia's foreign policy was directed at continuously reinforcing "a conducive regional environment through better interaction with neighboring countries, particularly East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Australia".

East Timor was once Indonesia's 27th province until it voted to break away from the country in a United Nations-organized referendum in 1999. Papua New Guinea shares a land border with Indonesia as it occupies the eastern half of New Guinea island.

"At a wider level, our foreign policy is aimed at boosting interregional cooperation both with Asia Pacific and Europe," the President said.

Indonesia hosted the fourth Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Nusa Dua, Bali, last week, which was attended by foreign ministers or their deputies from ten Asian nations and 15 countries grouped in the European Union.

On the economic side, Megawati said Indonesia had maintained and improved cooperation with industrialized countries with a view to keeping and seizing market opportunities for the country's industrial and agricultural products.

"We have urged the industrialized countries to provide fair treatment in their import and export policies," said Megawati, adding that some countries were employing various ways of impeding the flow of products from developing countries into their markets.