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".