The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
POLITICS
GOVT FOCUSES ON IMPROVING THREE SECTORS: PRESIDENT 1
ECONOMY
RI TO TARGET US$9 BILLION INCOME FROM NON-OIL/NON-GAS
EXPORTS IN 2010 1
PRESIDENT: INDONESIAN ECONOMY SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN
HOSTAGE BY HUGE DEBTS 2
INDONESIA'S EXPORTS REACHED OVER US$100 BILLION IN 2006 3
SOCIETY & CULTURE
NATIONAL EDUCATION MINISTER LAUNCHES LANGUAGE
VILLAGE NEAR BOROBUDUR TEMPLE 4
RECONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS IN ACEH TO BE
COMPLETED BY 2008 4
INTERNATIONAL
INDONESIA, FRANCE EXTEND COOPERATION IN IMPROVING
ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES 5
INDONESIA, NORWAY PREPARE MEDIA DIALOG 5
OTHERS
SAUDI GOVT ALLOCATES $2 MILLION FOR MOSQUE
REHABILITATION IN ACEH 6
EDITORIAL
CHINA WINS HEARTS IN SE ASIA 6
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
1
GOVT FOCUSES ON IMPROVING
THREE SECTORS: PRESIDENT
Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said the government is
focusing on alleviating poverty, developing
the national economy and
encouraging the nation's self reliance.
"What we are doing and will do in the
near future are to improve the people's
welfare, firstly, by alleviating poverty and
reducing unemployment; and secondly,
by restoring the national economy,
particularly that related to efforts to
attract investments and boost the real
sector," the president said in his stateof-
the-nation address marking the start
of the year at the presidential palace
here.
Of equal importance was to build the
nation's self reliance in the fields of
economy, foreign policies and state
defense which must be strengthened in
the context of the globalized international
relations, he said.
"The self-reliance means that we
must not be dependent on other nations
for our future," he added.
He said among the efforts the
government would continue to make in
2007 would be extending direct cash
allowance (BLT) to some 500,000 poor
families in 348 sub districts in five
districts in seven provinces, distributing
subsidized rice for the poor (Raskin),
providing school assistance (BOS) and
free health services at public health
service posts (Puskesmas) and
hospitals, building low-cost houses for
the people in the low income bracket,
and giving micro-credits and rotating
fund to cooperatives and small-scale
businesses.
He added the government would also
increase the welfare of civil servants and
members of the Indonesian Military and
Police.
On the economic development, he
said the government would try hard to
increase the economic growth to above
6 percent per year.
He said the economic growth in 2005
and 2006 came close to the pre-crisis
level of 5.6 percent per year.
The president noted that nine serious
obstacles had led to low investment
inflows, including high lending rates,
uncompetitive taxation system, lengthy
procedure of licensing investment
proposals, lack of legal certainty and
poor security.
The other obstacles were related to
political stability, infrastructure, and
contradictory bylaws, he added.
(ANTARA)
RI TO TARGET US$9 BILLION
INCOME FROM NON-OIL/NON-GAS
EXPORTS IN 2010
Jakarta - Indonesia will target a 100
percent increase in its export of nonoil/
non-gas commodities to US$9 billion
in 2010 following the signing of details
of the Japan-Indonesia Economic
Partnership Agreement (JIEPA) in
March or April this year, an industrial
official said.
"In 2010, non-oil/non-gas exports
should record a two-fold increase from
the figure in 2005 which only stood at
US$4.5 billion," Achdiat Atmawinata, a
senior adviser on industrial infrastructure
enhancement to the Industry Minister,
told ANTARA here.
POLITICS
ECONOMY
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
2
He said such an increase in nonoil/
non-gas exports would be of great
significance to Indonesia, especially in
improving the performance of domestic
industries in penetrating the non-tariff
barrier-packed Japanese market.
So far, Achdiat added, Indonesian
exports to Japan were dominated by oil
and gas products such as LNG. Of the
total of US$20.7 billion Indonesia was
earning from exports, only US$4.5
billion came from non-oil/non-gas
exports.
In the meantime, Indonesia's nonoil/
non-gas exports to Japan were
dominated by manufactured products of
high quality. But some the lowtechnology
exports included primary
agricultural, fishery and forestry
products.
Achdiat said his side hoped JIEPA
would not only open markets for the two
countries but also enhance Japan's role
in helping industries in Indonesia to
improve their capability in getting more
access not only to Japan's market but
also to the global market.
The effort to enhance the capability,
he added, was more directed at
improving domestic industrial progress
in fulfilling efficiency, quality and ontime
delivery standards.
"JIEPA is actually an asymmetric
partnership, because there is such a
difference between Japan's high
technological know-how and
Indonesia's. Hence, we only hope that
Japan will also help improve industrial
capability in Indonesia," he said.
(ANTARA)
PRESIDENT: INDONESIAN
ECONOMY SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN
HOSTAGE BY HUGE DEBTS
Jakarta - President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said in a condition of selfsufficiency,
the Indonesian economy
should not be taken hostage by huge
debts nor should the country be
dictated by third parties in its economic
development policies and programs.
"With the awareness and full of
calculations, we thus accelerate the
settlement of our debts amounting to
US$ 7 billion to the IMF (International
Monetary Fund) in 2006, four years
ahead of the scheduled time," the head
of state said when delivering an earlyyear
speech at the State Palace.
The president pointed out that despite
the settlement of the debts to the IMF,
the country's foreign exchange reserves
had remained strong, namely,
amounting to about US$42 billion, the
highest in the history of the Indonesian
economy.
With the settlement of the debts to the
IMF, Indonesia was now an equal
partner to the international financial
institution like other countries which are
not assisted by the fund, he said.
"We are no longer bound in the Post-
Program Monitoring in which the IMF
still had a supervisory role in the
programs and implementation of our
economic development in the past," the
president said.
In addition, the head of state said the
government had also decided to
dissolve the Consultative Group on
Indonesia (CGI) program.
"I'm of the opinion that it is high time
for us to design and decide our own
economic programs by ourselves and
freely and independently choose
financial sources for our development
without consultations with countries or
international institutions grouped in the
CGI forum," he said.
If there is a talk between Indonesia
and one or two of them, it will be done
bilaterally by consistently maintaining
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
3
transparency and independence in
negotiations with them, the president
said.
Thus, the chief executive said
Indonesia would be really independent
in setting agendas and priorities in the
budget allocation as well as deciding
financial sources and implementing what
had been planned.
Yudhoyono further said Indonesia
continued efforts to reduce the amount
of debts and the ratio between debts
and the national income.
"The economy will not be sound if the
ratio between debts and the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) is still high.
Thank God, we managed to reduce the
ratio between debts and GDP from 56.9
percent in 2004 to 48.1 percent in 2005
and to 42.1 percent in 2006," he noted.
The figures are better than those in
Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines,
he said, adding that in the future
Indonesia would try to reduce the ratio
again to 35 percent or even lower.
If the target is reached, Indonesia can
be free from the status of a country with
big debts, he added.
In addition to the declining ratio of
debts, Indonesia would also have more
varieties of financial sources, he said.
Indonesia's dependence on foreign
debts has been reducing. The financial
sources would be extended to avoid
budget risks from the fluctuating
exchange rates of currencies, interest
rates and roll-over risk.
The healthier and stronger state
budget which is resistant to fluctuation
would be one of important elements in
our economy," the head of state said.
"With this spirit, we will make up our
budget in order to reduce the
components of debt repayment and
subsidies which are not productive and
unnecessary so that our state budget
would be stronger and we could allocate
bigger budget to different development
sectors particularly in the effort to
improve human quality and increase
welfare for the Indonesian people," he
said.
He said independence in the
economic sector did not mean that
Indonesia would isolate itself from
cooperation and partnership with other
countries and international institutions.
In the current global economic era,
we have to be able to take biggest
advantage and benefits for the national
economy, he said.
Thus, Indonesia should maintain the
regional economic cooperation in the
frameworks of ASEAN (Association of
Southeast Asian Nations) and APEC
(Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) as
well as cooperation with Europe and
Middle Eastern countries, he said.
(ANTARA)
INDONESIA'S EXPORTS REACHED
OVER US$100 BILLION IN 2006
Jakarta - The Central Bureau of
Statistics (BPS) said Indonesia's
exports had reached US$9.5 billion in
December 2006 bringing the figure on
the January-December period in 2006 to
US$100.69 billion or an increase by
17.55 percent compared to a
corresponding period in 2005.
"Exports reached the psychological
level of US$9 billion for the first time in
the country's history," BPS Chief
Rusman Heriawan said.
He said the country's imports in
December 2006 reached US$4.94 billion
bringing the figure for the January-
December period in 2006 to US$61.08
billion, or an increase of 5.85 percent
compared to a corresponding period a
year earlier.
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
4
Indonesia enjoyed an international
trade surplus of US$39.61 billion.
December's exports rose by 6.43
percent compared to November's. If
compared to December 2005, it
increased by 16.91 percent.
Rusman further said December's
non-oil/non-gas exports had reached
US$7.62 billion or an increase by 6.26
percent compared to Novermber's. If
compared to December 2005, it rose by
21.02 percent.
Overall, Indonesia's non-oil/non-gas
exports in the January-December period
in 2006 reached US$79.50 billion or an
increase by 19.68 percent compared to
the corresponding period a year earlier.
Commodities like rubber, rubber
goods, metals, fats, vegetable and
animal oils, CPO, copper, steel and
paper contributed to the increase in the
overall export figure.
Oil and gas exports also increased in
December 2006.
It was caused by an increase in
crude oil exports by 13.85 percent to
US$794.3 million and in gas exports by
11.91 percent to US$869.4 million. But
export of processed oil dropped by
23.49 percent to US$210.7 million.
"The Indonesian crude oil price in the
global market rose to 60.15 dollars per
barrel in December 2006 from 55.90
dollars in November 2006," Rusman
said. (ANTARA)
NATIONAL EDUCATION MINISTER
LAUNCHES LANGUAGE VILLAGE
NEAR BOROBUDUR TEMPLE
Magelang, C Java - Minister of
National Education Bambang Sudibyo
has launched a Language Village in
Ngargogondo, a small village in
Magelang district, Central Java
province, around three kilometers
southeast of Borobudur Temple.
"I hope Ngargogondo village is good
and would serve as a model for other
villages. We will support it. But if (the
village) forgets the Indonesian and
Javanese languages, we will stop the
assistance," the minister flanked by
Singgih Sanyoto, head of the Magelang
district administration, said.
He also said the development of the
village as a Language Village was
expected to support the tourism area of
Borobudur Temple.
According to him, tourists came to
Borobudur Temple because they wanted
to see the rich Javanese culture.
If the local people forgot their culture,
he said, tourists would have no interest
in coming there. "Borobudur Temple is
still a symbol of the Javanese culture if
the people reserve it," Bambang added.
He said he welcomed the Language
Village because it is an indication of the
local people's awareness and revival of
the importance of communications in the
current modern era.
The minister held a dialog with a
number of people who wished to learn
English. (ANTARA)
RECONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOL
BUILDINGS IN ACEH TO BE
COMPLETED BY 2008
Banda Aceh - The rehabilitation and
reconstruction of school buildings
damaged by the earthquake and
tsunami on December 26 in 2004 in
some districts/municipalities in
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is expected
to be completed by 2008, a local
education official said.
SOCIETY & CULTURE
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
5
"We have set the target for
completing the rehabilitation and
reconstruction of damaged school
buildings and their re-opening at some
time in 2008," head of the local
education office Anas M Adam said.
To date, he added, two years after the
tsunami, some 400 school buildings had
been rehabilitated and reconstructed
with assistance from several local and
foreign donors and institutions, besides
the Aceh and Nias Rehabilitation and
Reconstruction Agency (BRR).
(ANTARA)
INDONESIA, FRANCE EXTEND
COOPERATION IN IMPROVING
ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES
Jakarta - Indonesia and France have
agreed to extend their cooperation in the
improvement of access to health
services, which has been going on since
November 2001, a senior official said.
The cooperation in the field of health
access services had involved the
Indonesian Ministry of Health and the
French non-governmental organization
Medecins Du Monde, Director General
for Public Health Development Sri Astuti
Suparmanto said.
She said the extension of the
cooperation for another three years
covered efforts to provide basic health
access services, the development of
health reproduction status and
improvement in the health services for
mothers and children.
The director general said that the
Health Ministry and the Medecins Du
Monde had previously carried out three
main projects, among others,
emergency project which directly
provided emergency medical
assistance, distribution of medicines,
clear water supplies and vaccination.
Other projects included rehabilitation
projects with main activities in improving
health and social structure and the
restoration of the physical and
psychological conditions of natural
disasters' victims.
"The rehabilitation project is part of
the emergency project with a period of
six months to three years," the director
general said. (ANTARA)
INDONESIA, NORWAY PREPARE
MEDIA DIALOG
Yogyakarta - Indonesian and
Norwegian journalists and media
professionals met for a two-day meeting
in Yogyakarta to prepare for the second
Global Inter-Media Dialog in Oslo later
this year.
The meeting's organizers hoped to
capitalize on a successful inaugural
gathering in Bali last year.
Foreign Ministry officials from the
two countries were also present to
facilitate the meeting and to choose a
theme for the second gathering and
formulate a list of speakers and invitees.
The first meeting in Bali saw the
presence of 80 journalists and media
professionals from around the world. It
took place against the backdrop of the
Danish cartoon controversy, which
triggered massive protests in the Muslim
world in early 2006.
The Bali meeting agreed on the
need for the media to be more culturally
sensitive in the face of an increasingly
connected and interdependent world. It
fell short, however, of endorsing a global
code of ethics for the media.
The roles of government officials
from Norway and Indonesia were limited
INTERNATIONAL
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
6
to facilitating the meeting. It was left to
journalists and media professionals to
determine the agenda of the Oslo
meeting.
Foreign Ministry secretary general
Imron Cotan and deputy director of the
Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Tine Morck Smith opened the meeting.
They were accompanied by the
Indonesian Ambassador to Norway,
Retno L.P. Marsudi, and the director for
public diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry,
Umar Hadi.
Also at the meeting were Bambang
Harymurti of Indonesia's Tempo group
and Siri Lill Mannes, a Norwegian TV
news anchor. Representatives from New
Zealand, Belgium and Russia were also
present. (THE JAKARTA POST)
SAUDI GOVT ALLOCATES $2
MILLION FOR MOSQUE
REHABILITATION IN ACEH
Banda Aceh, Aceh - The Saudi
government has set aside US$2 million
in fund for rehabilitation of Baiturrahman
Grand Mosque in tsunami-devastated
Banda Aceh city, an official said.
The fund was the Saudi people's
donations channeled through the Islamic
Development Bank (IDB), Saudi Charity
Campaign (SCC) director Muhammad
Ibrahim Al-Khalaf said after signing a
memorandum of understanding on
rehabilitation of the mosque here.
The fund would be channeled in two
stages with each phase of the
rehabilitation project receiving US$1
million, he said.
The Saudi government would directly
supervise the use of fund for the project
which was due to start this year, he said.
"Not only the mosque rehabilitation
but also other post-tsunami
humanitarian projects funded by the
Saudi government are subject to
supervision to ensure that the people of
Aceh will enjoy the projects in the long
run," he said.
He said the Saudi government would
always help Aceh in the aftermath of an
8.9 magnitude undersea earthquake
and subsequent tsunami that killed more
than 190,000 people on December 26,
2004.
The Saudi government was
considering channeling humanitarian aid
worth US$50 million for different sectors
of development in Aceh, he said.
(ANTARA)
CHINA WINS HEARTS IN SE ASIA
I. Wibowo, Jakarta
Relations between China and
several Southeast Asian nations have
been fast improving. ASEAN leaders
now regularly speak highly of China, and
of the nation's recent successes. This
positive atmosphere was unheard of 10
years ago.
During his visit to Laos in 2000,
Chinese president Jiang Zemin received
a very warm welcome, in which
"banners were hung across the capital
lauding Jiang, and endless banquets
were held in his honor". This scene was
replicated in Cambodia, where over
200,000 cheering schoolchildren
welcomed Jiang's motorcade.
OTHERS
EDITORIAL
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
7
In the early '90s, Cambodia opposed
China's involvement with the Khmer
Rouge. While Myanmar, suffering from
an embargo implemented by Western
nations, showed its gratitude to China
for its support by bettering economic
and political ties between the nations.
Thailand is no exception from this
pattern. A long-time British and U.S. ally,
the nation now considers its diplomatic
relationship with China -- along with
India -- essential to furthering its own
position in Asia.
Vietnam has been at war with China
since 1979, but from 1991, when
diplomatic relations between the nations
were restored, Vietnam's relations with
China have continued to improve.
In February 2002 the two nations
proposed the "Four good themes": good
neighbors, good friends, good
camaraderie and good partners. As a
result, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,
Thailand and Vietnam, which all hug the
Mekong River, have benefited
tremendously from trade with China.
Under the framework of the Greater
Mekong Sub-region (GMS), China has
implemented a development program in
the Mekong Basin. It has been
noticeable that China has paid great
attention to this region through aidgiving.
It is within the Mekong area that
China's soft power is most evident.
Similar trends have been evidenced
in Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines
and Indonesia. Malaysia, under Dr.
Mahathir, has developed a close
relationship with China, and at both
economic and diplomatic levels the two
countries are on good terms.
Singapore remains a "natural friend"
of China as the majority of the citystate's
population are of Chinese
descent. Although their relationship was
strained during the '70s, as of 1990 it
has been reinvigorated by increased
trade and two-way visits from the
nations' leaders. Meanwhile, relations
between China and the Philippines have
been caught in a dangerous dispute
over Mischief Reef.
Yet, in the past five years, relations
between the two countries have been
bettered due to high-level exchanges.
The Philippines have also received a
loan of US$500 million to build railroads.
Relations between Indonesia and
China suffered after a diplomatic breakup
lasting 32 years. Yet, over the past
eight years, Indonesia and China have
worked to better this situation. Visits by
leaders of the two countries have been
more frequent, while exports and
imports have grown. When the Asian
financial crisis hit Indonesia, China also
increased its assistance to the region.
In addition to US$400 million in
stand-by loans as part of an IMF rescue
package, China also increased its export
credit facilities by $200 million. During
the 2004 tsunami disaster, China was
among the first of nations to provide not
only financial assistance to Indonesia,
but also medical assistance.
Throughout Joseph Nye's term in
office, China increased its "soft power".
This differs from "hard power" in that
soft power does not rely on military
strength to subjugate a country, but
rather on values and culture. If power is
defined as a means to acquire the
intended result, then soft power is still
within this boundary of definition, except
that it rejects the use of force or
violence.
"A country may obtain the outcome it
wants in world politics because other
countries -- admiring its values,
emulating its example, aspiring to its
level of prosperity and openness -- want
to follow it," Nye says.
The increase in China's soft power is
evident among the various cultures to
The Indonesian Embassy, Bi – Weekly Bulletin. Issue I/02 – 5 February 2007
8
which citizens of ASEAN nations belong.
One observer said, "Chinese culture,
cuisine, calligraphy, cinema, curios, art,
acupuncture, herbal, medicine and
fashion fads have penetrated into
regional culture." He also says Chinese
films, pop-music and film stars, such a
Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi, are now
extremely popular among Southeast
Asia's youth.
Mainland Chinese brands such as
Hai'er, TCL and Huawei have also
become increasingly popular in many
Southeast Asian societies. According to
a poll conducted in Thailand in 2003, 76
percent of respondents considered
China to be Thailand's closest friend.
The writer is the head of the Center for
Chinese Studies at the University of
Indonesia. (The Jakarta Post)