Reflection: Lack of knowledge about Latin America, but super expert about Middle East and their heavenly kingdom.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailworld.asp?fileid=20060823.K02&irec=1 RI-Latin America urged to get better acquainted Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Lack of knowledge about Latin America in Indonesia and vice versa is the main culprit, not geographical distance, for the current slow pace of relations -- especially economic ties -- between Indonesia and that part of the world, participants at a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday agreed. Speaking at the discussion on Indonesia's Relations with Latin American Countries, organized by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), outgoing Chilean Ambassador to Indonesia James Sinclair Manley said that many Chilean people had not known Indonesia well while most Indonesians knew Chile only, for instance, through its soccer. "Long distance is a problem but lack of knowledge, in the sense that we still don't know each other very well, is the main factor behind the failure to capitalize on the huge potential of both sides," Sinclair said, while adding that trade relations between the two countries were steadily improving. He said energy, fisheries and tourism were sectors that had big potential in Chile-Indonesia relations. The two countries' bilateral trade reached US$333 million in 2005. Although it was a big jump from $258 million in 2004, the level was still low compared to Indonesia's other trading partners. Earlier in the discussion, noted economist Hadi Soesastro of the CSIS said high transportation costs made Indonesian businesspeople reluctant to forge business ties with Latin American countries. Another economist from the CSIS, Djisman Simandjuntak, cited China's success as an example of how the factor of long distance could be overcome by a far away partner country. "Everywhere in Latin America we can find Chinese products. We should learn from China as to how they can penetrate the market without losing competitiveness, although with a long distance factor." Two other speakers Ecuador Ambassador Alfonso Lopez Araujo and the Peruvian Embassy's deputy chief of mission Carlos Javier Castillo Morales both acknowledged that people in their countries lacked knowledge of Indonesia's potential, while adding that little was also known about their countries here. Argentinian Ambassador to Indonesia Jose Luis Mignini, another participant in the discussion, said that although Argentina was one of Indonesia's biggest trade partners in Latin America, trade volume between the two countries was still very low compared to the huge potential they had. "What we should do now is to promote among decision-makers, not only among government officials but also among businesspeople, the potential. Businesspeople should sit face to face so that they know what they want from each others," he said. Bilateral trade between Indonesia and Argentina increased to almost US$500 million in 2005, up by 490 percent from $102 million in 2001. Ambassador Mignini said that to overcome long distance problems, countries in Latin America and Indonesia should focus on the science and technology sectors. "For instance, we just sold nuclear reactors to Australia for medical purposes only two days ago," he said. Several officials from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry also supported the conclusion that long distance would not hinder growing ties between Indonesia and the Latin American countries once the businesspeople knew the huge potential of each of the countries there, citing the eagerness of some Indonesian businesspeople to do business in the continent after they joined the recent tour conducted by the ministry there. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
