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 | EVENTS and ACTIVITIES
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May 22 Dr. Daniel Citrin, Assistant Director for Asia, International Monetary Fund. On exchange rates: Citrin stated that the IMF's position is that the rupiah is undervalued, affected by political instability and structural policy problems. Restructuring assets to protect current owners: This is a sensitive issue in a country like Indonesia.
Replacing the owners of all the assets held by IBRA (as one might do in the US) would decimate the entrepreneurial class of the country. However, the IMF and Indonesia are working out details to prevent them from being sold back to original owners at heavy discounts. Energy subsidies: The IMF is not pushing Indonesia on this issue but believe that they mostly benefit the middle class and wealthy. Poor consumers should be protected from price spikes.
June 5 Robert Fitts, Director, Office of Southeast Asian Affairs, US Department of State
July 23 Ambassador Dorodjatun Kuntjoto-Jakti Farewell Luncheon. The Ambassador was sad to learn early on the morning of the event that Wahid had been voted out. What went wrong, in his opinion ? His conclusion: the perception of who Wahid was or had become or what he intended to do had outstripped the facts. The Ambassador knew there was trouble when he met a group of Jakarta editors who had little knowledge of how much assistance Indonesia had received from multilateral and bilateral sources ($70 billion according to his calculations) but yet they were still bashing the US and IMF for not doing enough. In his opinion, the economy can get going again with a slightly stronger rupiah (9600 is a good target level for him, allowing exports to remain competitive). But, foreign investment will still be vital to grow the economy at 6-7%, a rate high enough to absorb the 3 million annual entrants.
September 19 Saleh Djasit, Governor of Riau Province Gov. Djasit promoted investment in railroads and power.
September 25 President Megawati Soekarnoputri Close to 300 attendees heard President Megawati convene a moment of silence for the victims of 9/11 as well as state that she was "bullish on Indonesia". The full text of her remarks can be found on AICC's website(www.aiccusa.org). The elite of the NY financial community combined with American leading energy and mining investors, importers and manufacturers, heard the President make a strong commitment to fight terrorism, implement economic reforms in line with the IMF. She also implored investors to stay engaged, saying that "the time of wait-and-see has passed". Telling investors that she wanted to personally know of corruption roadblocks, Megawati said her government would "eliminate the uncertainties of doing business in Indonesia; and reestablish a set of rules based on international standards".
October 24 Dr. Sri Mulyani Indrawati, University of Indonesia/Georgia State University. One of Indonesia's brightest young economists told an AICC audience not to expect much progress on economic reform given the current political realities on the ground. She pleaded with her country to role up its sleeves and do the hard work of reform, worrying that President Megawati's economic "dream team" would end up only a "dreaming team". Indonesia should be capitalizing on the momentum of President Megawati's recent trips to the US and elsewhere, but without clear actions to boost foreign investor confidence, little will be achieved. Megawati must take a strong leadership role to reverse the disappointment that resulted from the ineffective presidencies of Wahid and Habibie.
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