Singapore PM Goh, investors to visit RI

Singapore PM Goh, investors to visit RI

JAKARTA (JP): Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong along
with about 80 businessmen from the city state will visit
Indonesia for talks with President Abdurrahman Wahid on
investment, Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Luhut Pandjaitan
said on Tuesday.

Luhut told visiting Indonesian journalists in Singapore that
during the meeting, which is scheduled for Jan. 13, the
Singaporean delegate would be accompanied by the United States
ambassador to Singapore.

Goh promised to visit Indonesia to explore investment
opportunities during Abdurrahman's visit to the country in
November last year.

Antara reported Luhut as saying that Singaporean businessmen
remained very interested in investing in Indonesia despite the
riots in May 1998, which forced most Indonesian businessmen of
Chinese origin to flee the country.

He said the country's proximity made Indonesia more attractive
than China as an investment destination for Singaporean
investors.

Businessman Tong Djoe, an Indonesian citizen of Chinese origin
who now lives in Singapore, acknowledged that Indonesia was still
attractive to Singaporean investors.

But he called on the government to develop stability and legal
certainty, which he said were consequential for Indonesia to lure
foreign investors back into the country.

Luhut and Tong Djoe said the government needed to rebuild
international confidence in the country, which was severely
damaged over the past two years due to the lingering economic and
political crisis.

Both expected that Abdurrahman's Cabinet could formulate
concrete policies on investment and national economic development
within the next six months as a guideline for investors.

Bank Indonesia has estimated US$80 billion owned by wealthy
Chinese-Indonesians and foreign investors was transferred out of
the country after the financial crisis hit in mid-1997 and former
president Soeharto stepped down amid unrest in May 1998.

Funds taken out of the country by Chinese-Indonesian
businessmen during the turmoil were estimated between $10 billion
and $35 billion.

Some analysts have said that the businessmen would gradually
repatriate the funds as they have confidence in the leadership of
Abdurrahman and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri. (jsk)