SBY consults tycoon on China visit

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Prior to his visit to China next month, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met on Monday with Indonesian-born tycoon Tong Djoe, asking the latter to help the government gain access into the sprawling Chinese corporate community.

The President also asked the Singapore-based shipping magnate to help establish connections between businesspeople from Indonesia and China, given that Tong Djoe has a large network of friends and associates in the Chinese business community.

"I was called by the President to help the country gain access into China. I was asked to help him during his visit to the country in the middle of July, and advise him on how to lure Chinese businesspeople," Tong Djoe said on Monday at the State Palace.

He said the two countries' businesspeople should improve their economic ties due to the number of untapped resources within the two communities.

Also during the meeting, Tong Djoe said that Susilo had high hoped that he could help the government repatriate a number of tycoons charged with corruption, many of whom currently reside in China.

"President Susilo requested my help in the government's attempt to bring back troubled Indonesian tycoons who are hiding in China. However, I cannot fulfill that request because I don't have any authority over them," he said.

Born in Sumatra in 1927, Tong Djoe's widespread connections in the Chinese business community was recognized by then President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who asked Tong Djoe to accompany him during his a visit to China in 2000.

He also worked with Gus Dur's successor President Megawati Soekarnoputri during her visit to China, in a bid to help attract more Chinese investment. Tong Djoe, in fact, has had close ties with the government since the administration of Megawati's father, founding President Sukarno.

A number of Chinese-born tycoons, mostly banks owners, fled the country between 1998 and 2002 following the government's crackdown on bad debtors who had misused liquidity assistance funds from the central bank (BLBI), to help save their banks from closure.

President Susilo is likely to bring Tong Djoe along during his July visit to China to follow up on initial agreements made recently in Jakarta with visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao on the expansion of trade cooperation -- up to US$20 billion over the next three years -- from the current $14 billion.

At present, Indonesia's economy is getting much closer to China, since a great many Indonesian tycoons are Chinese-born and still maintain contact with relatives in mainland China.

For Indonesia, which is rich in natural resources, the agreements are part of an effort to take advantage of China's booming economy, as well as to build a future regional alliance in the defense and security sector.