Summers promises more support for Indonesia

Summers promises more support for Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers
promised on Thursday to give more technical and financial support
to Indonesia if the country continued with its political and
economic reform program.

"In the context of continued reforms, the U.S. will continue
to work bilaterally on a wide range of fronts to support lasting
change in Indonesia," Summers told a business lunch jointly held
by the American Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia and the
Indonesian Economists Association (ISEI) following a meeting with
President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Bilateral support would be increased significantly over the
next two years, said Summers, who arrived on Wednesday for a one-
day visit as part of an Asian trip.

He said a team from the U.S. Treasury Department was in
Indonesia to begin a program providing financial technical
assistance to the government in helping fight corruption.

The team was assessing how it could best help the government
at this crucial time, Summers said.

He stressed that U.S. knowledge of investigation techniques
into financial corruption, known as "forensic accounting", would
be shared with Indonesian officials in fighting graft.

Summers said the committed bilateral support was fundamentally
not about its worth in dollar terms, but the quality of the
technical support and the building of close ties.

He noted the importance of the people and societal
organization of a country in which quality people with good
organizational skills would provide the nation's economic
strength.

"The strength of society depends on the human capital and
social capital. It depends on the strength of organization
outside the organization that represents the government."

He said the U.S. was emphasizing the importance of empowering
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Indonesia.

"Non-governmental organizations can be the most effective
providers of social services, that they can build economic
strength not from the top down, but from the bottom up."

He said the U.S. applauded the government for considering NGOs
as a crucial part of the social support system.

At the multilateral level, Summers said, the U.S. also
supported Indonesia in its efforts to reschedule its foreign
debts to help the government carry through its national reform
agenda.

"We are ready to work with other Paris Club creditors to
achieve a generous rescheduling of Indonesia's obligation."

Summers also said the international community pledged about
$10 billion over the next three years to Indonesia following the
announcement of the International Monetary Fund's new program for
the country.

He declined to elaborate, saying the details of the additional
loan package were up to each of the international institutions in
determining the disbursement parameters.

Summers gave his endorsement to the new draft state budget,
officially unveiled on Thursday.

He was optimistic about the government's efforts to effect an
economic recovery from the prolonged crisis, but acknowledged the
challenge of law enforcement after years in which it was abused
and disregarded by various sectors of Indonesian society.

He said in general the country's challenges in the months
ahead were fundamentally political, but it was inseparable from
"the economic challenge of creating a stable environment for a
fully integrated and vibrant national economy". (udi)