Zoellick inks $73.7m aid package for RI
Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A top U.S. envoy said Indonesia should further improve its domestic business and investment climate as part of efforts to strengthen trade ties between the two countries.
Visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick signed on Saturday an agreement to provide US$73.7 million in economic development aid to help Indonesia achieve those goals. The aid will help the government strengthen its anticorruption program, increase competitiveness in key sectors and help create financial stability.
"We want to emphasize that our partnership with Indonesia extends far beyond the certainly important work that we have in the aftermath of tsunami and the earthquake," Zoellick said, referring to ongoing post-disaster efforts in Aceh and on Nias.
"This project in particular helps develop capacity in some important areas. It has support for trade capacity building, so that Indonesia can strengthen its ability to take part in international trade negotiations, figure out the particular benefits from them and then implement them in a way that gains advantage for the people of Indonesia.
"It helps create the infrastructure for growth and reform," the former U.S. trade representative said after the signing ceremony with State Minister for National Development Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
The agreement is part of a five-year United States Agency for International Development (USAID) strategy to help the country to strengthen democracy and local governance, improve basic education and public services and boost economic growth to cut unemployment. Over the course of five years, USAID will provide $750 million in assistance to Indonesia.
Zoellick said part of the aid would be used to help set up an anticorruption court "to draw support for investment".
Earlier in the day, Zoellick met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and several ministers.
Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said Susilo discussed various issues with Zoellick during a 45-minute meeting at the State Palace, including Susilo's plan to visit the U.S. from May 25 through May 26.
"One of the most significant issues of the meeting was Indonesia's role in Southeast Asia. This issue will be discussed when Susilo meets with (President George) Bush in Washington," Dino said.
Zoellick said he was eager to see Indonesia take more of a leadership role in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
"I hope and believe that ASEAN can play a larger role in the political, economic and security context in the Asian region, from South Asia to Northeast Asia. Frankly, for ASEAN to play that role, it really requires that Indonesia take its traditional place in terms of guiding the ASEAN process.
"For a very understandable reason, that hasn't really occurred since 1997 because of the preoccupation with the political process and change. I found the President and his team are very interested in reestablishing the Indonesian role in the ASEAN context," Zoellick said.