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)