|
Unrest in Aceh and the dispute between state electricity
company PT PLN and its power contractors will be the main topics of a
dialog between the country's leaders and investors on Tuesday.
Harvey Goldstein, president of dialog-organizer Harvest International,
said these two issues were the main concerns of investors who wanted to
maintain their investments in the country.
"Businesses want some kind of assurance that the investment climate in
Indonesia is favorable in the long term," Goldstein said in a statement.
The dialog titled Transforming Vision to Reality will feature President
Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, People's
Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and House of Representatives
Speaker Akbar Tandjung.
Goldstein said foreign investors were concerned by the independence
movement in Aceh because it could effect the country's political
stability. "The participants believe that the Aceh problem should not
be considered as a local political issue. It should also be related to
Indonesia's political stability -- a prerequisite for foreign investors
to come and do business here," Goldstein said.
Acehnese have intensified their demand for a self-determination
referendum over the past several months, raising concern that
separatist movements elsewhere in the country could be sparked.
Goldstein said the government's stance in the dispute between PLN and
itsindependent power producers (IPPs) also was crucial in building
confidence in the investment policies of the new administration.
"Basically, what they want to know is what the government has in mind
to reassure them that past and future contracts will be honored and
that theirinvestments are safe," Goldstein said.
PLN is seeking to renegotiate the contracts it awarded to IPPs during
therule of former president Soeharto, claiming the contracts' terms are
burdensome and that they were awarded through collusion, corruption and
nepotism.
|
