S. Korea-RI economic ties rapidly expanding
S. Korea-RI economic ties rapidly expanding
JAKARTA (JP): The South Korean Ambassador here, Kyung Chul-
kim, foresees a further deepening and broadening of bilateral
economic cooperation with Indonesia due to the high degree of
complementarity in the resource endowment of the two countries.
"Korea is already Indonesia's fourth largest trading partner
and sixth largest foreign investor," said Kim on the occasion of
the National Day of the Republic of Korea today.
He noted that the two-way trade between the two countries had
been expanding rapidly over the past few years to reach US$4.7
billion last year.
The Korean diplomat projected an even higher rate of trade
expansion as a result of the steady increase in Korean
investments in the country and in its imports of energy, notably
crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
According to the Investment Coordinating Board, Korea is now
the sixth largest foreign investor in Indonesia with 340
investment ventures worth more than $3.65 billion in various
industrial areas.
Last month, for example, the state-owned Pertamina oil company
and Korea Gas Corporation signed new contracts which will
increase Korean LNG imports from almost six million tons this
year to nearly eight million tons a year beginning next year.
Korea also became the first newly industrializing country to
enter Indonesia's hydrocarbon resource development when Kodeco
Energy Co. Ltd.'s offshore concession area, west of Madura island
in East Java, came on stream in 1985.
Kodeco has been piping natural gas to the Gresik power plant
in East Java since last year.
"But our economic cooperation is not limited to trade and
investment (natural resource development)," Kim said, proudly
pointing to his country's contribution to various projects in
Indonesia, including human resource development, through grant
and soft-loan assistance programs.
Korea became one of Indonesia's country donors grouped in the
Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) in 1992. But even before
that year, Korea had begun extending grant and soft loans under
its Economic Development Cooperation Fund.
Grants
Under this scheme, for example, the Korean government has
committed $53 million in grants and soft loans to the financing
of several development projects in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Java.
Kim also foresaw a promising future in technical cooperation
as Indonesia is expanding and improving its vocational training
centers in various provinces.
Korea, Kim said, has committed more than $10 million to the
development of vocational training centers in the country and has
thus far trained more than 865 Indonesians in Korea and sent 47
experts to help training programs in Indonesia.
Kim who assumed his post here last April also sees the Asia-
Pacific Economic Cooperation forum as another boon to further
strengthen Indonesian-Korean cooperation.
"Korean President Kim Young- sam will attend APEC's second
leaders' meeting here in November," he said in referring to
Korea's strong commitment to APEC, notably its bilateral economic
ties with Indonesia. (vin)