Washington, eyeing new markets, upgrades focus on Indonesia
Washington, eyeing new markets, upgrades focus on Indonesia
NEW YORK (Opecna): Washington is to upgrade its relations with
Jakarta, having "developed the most elaborate country strategy
that the government has ever had towards a developing country",
according to United States Undersecretary of Commerce for
International Trade Jeffrey Garten.
Speaking to the foreign policy association on Thursday, he
said Indonesia had been included in a list of the 10 "big
emerging markets" prepared by his department.
The strategy, formulated by a task force made up of experts
from 22 different agencies, was already being put in place.
"We are now in the process of implementing it. We have a task
force in Washington with a leader who is the counterpart to the
U.S. ambassador in Indonesia," he said.
The task force included representatives from a wide variety of
government agencies "not just the typical agencies like the state
department or the Treasury, but also the Federal Aviation
Administration, the Food and Drug Administration", he said.
"We had the people in one room over a period of three to four
months and asked them the questions: How can we sell more to
Indonesia? What do we know - What kind of technical assistance
can we provide, so that they are more inclined to buy American
products - Where is the growth going to come from?"
Commercial center
Garten noted that a U.S. commercial center was to be set up in
Indonesia and a task force on the same pattern was planned for
some of the other "big emerging markets".
The commerce department had estimated that by the year 2000,
the 10 countries would account for more American exports than
either Europe or Japan. By the year 2010, they were likely to
account for more exports than Europe and Japan combined.
Indonesia's "market is big - 188 million people, the fourth
most populous nation in the world".
"The country is emerging rapidly - one of the fastest economic
growth rates of any nation anywhere - and it is becoming
increasingly open to foreign investors."
Noting that relations between Washington and Jakarta were not
smooth, Garten said intensive bilateral discussions were the way
to identify areas of tension.
"This year, it is likely that almost every major economic
official of the U.S. government, as well as the president, will
go to Indonesia.
"We intend to take a much closer look at how we can support
U.S. firms to win contracts, and how we can take better advantage
of Jakarta's efforts to open up the economy."
In the last six months, a consensus had developed among top
Clinton administration officials that "the big emerging markets
ought to be a major focus for U.S. commercial policy".