APEC-INDONESIA: Jakarta Uneasy Under Media Glare (1) An Inter Press Service Feature

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Johanna Son

JAKARTA, Nov 11 1994 (IPS) - Indonesia has tried to use the flood of foreign dignitaries attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings to boost its international standing, but the world’s fourth most populous nation is finding itself the focus of much unwanted attention as well.

Indonesia has tried to propel itself into the limelight in recent years by heading the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and now APEC, eagerly showing off its booming economy and success in drastically reducing poverty despite having 190 million people.

But the country has come under close scrutiny in the run-up to the APEC meetings that began this week, and Jakarta has been feeling the pressure regarding its records on human rights and labour.

On Thursday, Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans told his Indonesian counterpart Ali Alatas that the country’s human rights situation remained “poor”.

And Winston Lord, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, says U.S. President Bill Clinton will raise the issues when he meets with Indonesian leader Suharto next week.

A summit of the leaders of the APEC member economies takes place Nov. 15.

Jakarta has been studiously ignoring comments like that of the Australian and U.S. officials, and instead stressing its successes. On Thursday, it unveiled the first locally designed and built airliner, hailing it as a symbol of a developing country’s leap into the arena of high technology.

An elaborate show marked the unveiling of the 50-seater N-250 commuter plane before hundreds of reporters in Bandung, West Java. Research and Technology Minister B J Habibie, also the chief proponent of the plane project, said a U.S. firm has already ordered 10 planes while eight are being reserved for a European company.

He added that a joint venture would be formed in the United States for the plane’s 100 million dollar assembly plant there, with U.S. giant General Electric asking for 10 percent ownership.

In fact, the plane project has had steep costs, and has already used up 650 million dollars in state funds, including a controversial loan from the country’s reforestation funds.

The APEC meetings are being used by different groups to say what otherwise could not or would not be read by thousands of delegates and members of the foreign press.

APEC-INDONESIA: Jakarta Uneasy Under Media Glare (1) An Inter Press Service Feature

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Johanna Son

JAKARTA, Nov 11 1994 (IPS) - Indonesia has tried to use the flood of foreign dignitaries attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings to boost its international standing, but the world’s fourth most populous nation is finding itself the focus of much unwanted attention as well.
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