Soeharto witnesses Hannover Fair opening

Soeharto witnesses Hannover Fair opening

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto attended yesterday the
opening of the Hannover Fair 1995 by German Chancellor Helmut
Kohl in a simple ceremony.

The ceremony, which took place at 6 p.m. local time (11 p.m.
Western Indonesian time) on Sunday, was attended by several
Indonesian cabinet ministers, who are accompanying the President
on his German visit, as well as a number of leading Indonesian
business figures.

The ministers are Minister of Research and Technology B. J.
Habibie, Minister of Trade S. B. Joedono, Minister of Tourism,
Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave, Foreign Minister Ali
Alatas, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono. Former vice president
Sudharmono is also traveling with the President.

Indonesian business is represented by Sudono Salim, chairman
of the Salim Group; Eka Tjipta Widjaja of the Sinar Mas Group; M.
Sinivasan of the Texmaco Group; Sukanto Tanoto of the Garuda Mas
Group; Mohammad Hasan, the noted forestry tycoon; Bambang
Trihatmodjo, chairman of the Bimantara Group; Siti Hartarti
Murdaya, who chairs the Cakra Murdaya Group; Aburizal Bakri,
chairman of Bakri Brothers; and Subronto Laras of Indomobil.

Indonesia has been chosen by the industrial fair organizers as
Germany's "Country Partner" because of its successes in
economics, development and technology.

At the Hannover Fair, which is known locally as "Hannover
Messe 1995", Indonesia has two pavilions, occupying an area of
4,200 square meters, Chamber World Network (CWN) reported from
Hannover.

The pavilions will be opened by President Soeharto this
morning local time. Chancellor Kohl will deliver a speech at the
ceremony.

They are the largest pavilions at the fair because they are
connected to the celebration of the 50th anniversary of
Indonesia's independence. Sixty-one Indonesian companies are
taking part in the show.

Among them are the state-owned IPTN aviation company, which is
displaying its latest product, the N-250 airplane; German Motor,
which is displaying its MB-700 Mercedez-Benz bus chassis; the
Texmaco Group, displaying textile machines and other products;
and Indomobil, displaying its Suzuki Carry.

The Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications is
displaying photographs of the Semanggi intersection, Soekarno-
Hatta airport, Istiqlal Mosque, Fatahillah Museum and container
terminals at Tanjung Priok, all in Jakarta, as well as
photographs of the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Kuta Beach in
Bali and Borobudur, the world's largest Buddhist temple, in
Central Java.

According to CWN, 800,000 people, including 73,000 from
abroad, are expected to visit the fair for business purposes.

Human rights

Soeharto, who arrived in the German city over the weekend,
said at the opening of the fair yesterday that for his country,
economic and social development programs were the first step
towards providing basic rights for the people.

"A citizen will never be able to carry out his or her freedom
of expression in a constructive and responsible way without an
adequate educational background," he said.

He said that freedom of association, alone, did not have any
meaning for workers. The President said that all the basic
freedoms were of equal importance and there had to be an absolute
equilibrium between individual and societal rights.

President Soeharto and his entourage will proceed to Bonn this
afternoon for a meeting with the President of the Federal
Republic of Germany, Dr. Roman Herzog. Soeharto will also pay a
visit to Cologne.

Tomorrow morning the President Soeharto will receive German
Foreign Minister Kinkel at the Petersburg Guest House, where he
will be staying during his visit to Bonn, while Mrs. Soeharto
will visit Stollwerk Museum and the town of Solingen.

In Bonn, tomorrow, Soeharto will hold talks with Chancellor
Kohl and attend a meeting of the Indonesia-Germany Economic And
Technology Cooperation Forum.

In addition, President Soeharto will visit the waste treatment
plant of Bayer Leverkusen and will visit Dusseldorf by
helicopter.

Soeharto is scheduled to leave Germany on Thursday to proceed
to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. (tis)