[Kabar-indonesia] 'Indonesia is safe for foreign investment'

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, September 23, 2006

'Indonesia is safe for foreign investment'

Vice President Jusuf Kalla is embarking on a "strictly business" tour of the 
U.S., Spain and Saudi Arabia from Sept. 22 to Oct. 4. Kalla was supposed to 
visit Canada but canceled the trip at the eleventh hour, replacing it with 
Spain. One day prior to his departure, Kalla gave an exclusive interview to The 
Jakarta Post's Avian E. Tumengkolabout the objectives of the trip. The following 
are excerpts of the interview.

Question: What is the main purpose of this visit? Answer: The trip to the 
U.S. will primarily focus on economic issues.

And honestly, we (Indonesia) do not have any political disputes with the 
U.S., in fact, we are on very good political terms.

American investments are very important. I believe the potential is high in 
developing a stronger economic partnership with a strong nation like it (U.S.). 
The potential is positive.

Unfortunately, the trip to Canada has been canceled suddenly, due to the 
unavailability of the prime minister and governor-general. At the same time, I 
received an invitation from the Spanish government to meet its top officials and 
speak at an international seminar on government peace negotiators in Barcelona.

What is really the importance of bilateral relations with the United States?

Our relationship with the U.S. is very strong and important to us. Due to our 
previous discussions and enhancement efforts, the military embargo has been 
waived. The Timika case was also settled. Now, we have a better relationship 
with them.

Based on the itinerary, this trip focuses more on economic relations than 
political aspects. Can you please explain why.

It is important we retain the existing American investments and, more 
importantly, we are considering expanding them as a way of honoring the relationship.

The interest is in the energy and financial sectors, and we are also looking 
for investments in the manufacturing sector. Hence our important meetings in 
Washington, New York and Chicago are with U.S. business corporations. It is 
important we positively share our economic vision with them, convince our 
potential investors in those three cities. We want to show them that we are serious 
and want mutual benefits for all of us.

But Indonesia seems to fail in attracting foreign direct investments (FDI) 
from the U.S. compared to our neighboring countries. Why is this so?

Not exactly so. If the failure is on the amount of investments compared to 
other countries, yes. But if the failure is in not investing in the country, no. 
If you carefully look at the graphics of foreign investments, you will notice 
an escalation.

But there is no continuity and sustainability of these investments.

Exactly! Others see us (Indonesia) as one of the most corrupt countries. (And 
think) the country is not safe due to terrorism with several security issues. 
But this has somewhat improved. So, it remains very important for us to meet 
them, talk to them, and that is when we can rebuild our image and change their 
perception.

What can the Indonesian government and businesses do to attract foreign 
investment?

The most important thing is to improve our domestic situation. Then we must 
be able to build their trust through our achievements. And in my opinion, this 
is not difficult to achieve.

But we also have to listen to them, learn from them, about their concerns 
toward us. What are their exact setbacks that makes it difficult for them to 
invest, and we must do that through one-on-one talks. Excessive tax reforms, 
corruption, bureaucracy, labor are included in their list of concerns, in my humble 
opinion. And these are the areas that we need to improve.

Foreign investors have some problems with the sanctity of their contracts 
here. For instance, Cemex and ExxonMobil had some legal problems. How do you 
convince American investors?

I do not see any complexity here. Exxon's Cepu project is clear and 
finalized, and this was not a matter of sanctity, but a matter of us (government) not 
initiating talks with them. The Cemex case is merely a normal business dispute, 
and the reason why they pulled out is because they wanted to make a larger 
investment elsewhere. And I believe it is not related to legal affairs.

You and U.S. Vice President Richard B. Cheney have similarities. Both are the 
most powerful vice presidents. What is your comment?

First, I have not personally met with Richard Cheney, so I cannot give you my 
personal thoughts about the vice president. For me, I feel that I am just 
doing my job, doing what the President instructs and expects of me. The President 
and I work closely together.

So the similarities between me and Cheney are that he has a strong business 
background with Halliburton, and I also have a strong business sense only 
because I was also a businessman. And it is evident that our business backgrounds 
contribute to the business sense of our respective governments.

It would be different if one of us had a military background.

On your way back to Indonesia, you are going to perform a minor haj 
pilgrimage. Are you not afraid of political rivals accusing you of misusing an official 
trip?

I will be there for observance of religious duties, and I am not afraid of 
anything when it comes to my religious duties. Before I was vice president, I 
went to Mecca every year to perform my minor haj pilgrimage. And this will be on 
the way back to Jakarta. It requires no additional expense and no special 
arrangements.

Lastly, what would you expect from the international community?:

Yes! First of all, I want to encourage the international community to look at 
the current Indonesia, and not perceive us from our past.

Second, see us as a nation seeking strong economic ties with all parties. 
Almost all foreign companies operated in Indonesia have benefited, especially 
American companies.

Our nation is safe and secure, we are getting much better now. So, I see no 
worries to come to Indonesia. Finally, I want to encourage all potential 
parties to invest in Indonesia. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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