Soeharto's trip to Cambodia seen boosting economic ties
Soeharto's trip to Cambodia seen boosting economic ties
PHNOM PENH (Reuter): A landmark visit by Indonesian President
Soeharto to Cambodia this week paved the way for a number of
agreements aimed at boosting weak economic ties, officials said.
The agreements, signed after talks on Tuesday between Soeharto
and co-premiers Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, included a
trade pact, a memorandum of understanding on oil and gas
cooperation and an exchange of notes on a joint commission.
Soeharto arrived on Monday, his first trip to Cambodia since
1968, with a delegation including Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and
a number of businessmen. He left yesterday.
Alatas said the trade pact built on an umbrella economic and
technical agreement already in existence for several years.
He said the joint commission would oversee and regularly
review economic cooperation in various fields.
"We will now start negotiations on an investment protection
and promotion agreement and an agreement on the avoidance of
double taxation," Alatas said on Tuesday.
He said these pacts would hopefully be signed soon.
The agreement between Indonesia's state oil company and the
Cambodian government included training and the possibility of
future upstream and downstream cooperation, Alatas said.
He said Indonesian involvement in offshore exploration and
exploitation depended on success in open bidding.
Cambodia and Indonesia also agreed to follow up a 1969
aviation pact with negotiations among airlines from the two
countries.
Cambodian officials welcomed the signing of the new pacts,
saying they should help strengthen weak trade and investment ties
between the two historically close nations.
"We have to develop more trade between our two countries,"
Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh told Reuters, adding that two-way
trade only amounted to $10-15 million each year.
Secretary of State for Finance Chanthol Sun said Indonesian
investment in Cambodia, whose economy has been ravaged by decades
of war, was disappointing.
He did not give figures but an Indonesian embassy official
said accumulated investment was worth $30 million. Most is in
telecommunications and real estate.
Potential Indonesian investors have said they were waiting for
greater political stability in Cambodia, which has been ruled by
an uneasy coalition government set up following UN-run elections
in 1993.
Chanthol Sun said a "lack of awareness" rather than political
instability was responsible for modest Indonesian interest.
Alatas said trade and investment was below potential and he
hoped the planned agreements on investment protection and
promotion would attract more Indonesian attention.