Soeharto, Kim hold 'car talk' over telephone

JAKARTA (JP): South Korean President Kim Young-sam held a 24- minute telephone conversation with President Soeharto yesterday to follow-up last week's bilateral talks on the prospect of establishing a Korean automotive plant in Indonesia.

"President Soeharto spontaneously responded by saying he would immediately instruct Indonesian ministers and high ranking officials to contact their Korean counterparts about this possibility," Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said here yesterday.

Moerdiono said that during the conversation, Soeharto reassured Kim of his commitment to increasing economic relations between the two countries.

The call was received at 9 a.m. at Soeharto's private residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.

In Seoul, South Korea's presidential spokesman Choo Don-shik disclosed that apart from Soeharto, Kim also made telephone calls to Philippine President Fidel Ramos and Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating.

He described the purpose of the calls as an affirmation of the accords made during Kim's recent visit to those three countries.

Kim was in Indonesia last week during a two-day state visit to attend the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders summit in Bogor, West Java.

Cooperation

Apart from the automotive industry, the two presidents also touched on areas of cooperation concerning small and medium scale industries with an emphasis on the important role of the private sector in this field.

Moerdiono revealed that during the call, President Kim gave a serious respond to Soeharto's offer to purchase liquefied natural gas from Indonesia's soon to be developed Natuna gas field.

Located some 1,100 kilometers north of Jakarta, the Natuna gas field will be jointly developed by the state oil company Pertamina and with American oil giant Exxon.

When completed, it will be the largest offshore natural gas project in the Asia-Pacific region.

Over the course of the conversation, Kim also praised Soeharto's leadership during the APEC summit, saying that it was his leadership which allowed the member economies to reach a consensus on trade liberalization.

Beaming from the compliment, Soeharto replied by playing down his role noting that the success of the Bogor summit was the result of the active contribution from all the leaders.

Soeharto and Kim ended their conversation by promising future calls which, they believe, will greatly help harmonize perceptions of the two countries. (mds)