S'pore PM to lead trade mission to RI in January

S'pore PM to lead trade mission to RI in January

JAKARTA (JP): Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong will
lead a large trade mission to Indonesia in January in a bid to
boost trade relations between the neighboring countries.

Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Luhut Panjaitan said here
on Tuesday that the Singaporean trade delegation would focus on
tourism and labor-intensive industries.

"Prime Minister Goh told me in a recent discussion that
Singapore was interested in doing business in the nonpolluting
and labor intensive industries in Indonesia," he said in his
speech at a business luncheon sponsored by the Indonesian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

Luhut said Goh expressed interest in maintaining and adding
Singaporean businesses on Batam, Bintan and Karimun islands, some
30 kilometers from the island state.

Singapore's new investments in the islands will be directed to
general industries such as electronics and textiles, chemicals,
engineering and shipyard services, Luhut said in quoting Goh's
recent comments to him.

"Prime Minister Goh told me he planned to double the number of
employees in Batam Island from the existing 90,000 to 200,000 in
one to two years time."

For tourist ventures, Singapore is interested in all provinces
in the country except the well-developed resort island of Bali,
Luhut said.

"Prime Minister Goh is also eying the provinces of Riau, West
Sumatra, North Sumatra and West Kalimantan to help supply
Singapore's needed agroindustry products."

Luhut noted Singapore's need for natural gas from Indonesia's
Natuna and Asam Mera fields.

Kadin's vice president Iman Taufik predicted Singaporean
investment in the country would easily increase between US$5
billion and $6 billion within two to three years after the trade
mission.

The total cumulative investment of Singaporean business in the
country stood at some $21 billion, ranking third after Hong Kong
and Japan in the top 10 list of investors, Iman said.

"Singaporean businesspeople did not stop investing in
Indonesia even in the middle of the economic crisis over the past
two years."

Iman discounted media reports that the sizable capital flight
from Indonesia during the crisis benefited Singapore.

He noted the issue was a sensitive one for Singapore's
government and Indonesia should strive to avoid its discussion.

"The issue could only burden trade relations between the two
countries rather than improve them."

He said the important point was to improve investment
conditions in the country to ensure the return of funds
transferred overseas.

It is also important to end distinctions made between
indigenous businesspeople and the ethnic Chinese, he added.

Luhut recommended that Kadin include a significant number of
Chinese-Indonesians in its membership.

"The ethnic Chinese, besides being good business players, are
the third largest group in Indonesia after the Javanese and
Sundanese," Luhut said. (udi)