Indonesian Leader Arrives in Japan for Trade, Energy Talks

Posted 27 November 2006 @ 10:53 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

TOKYO (AP) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has arrived in Tokyo, where he is expected to sign off on the framework for a trade deal that could let Indonesians work here.

During his four-day visit, Japan will also seek Indonesia's assistance in supplying natural gas and in pressuring North Korea, officials said Sunday.

Yudhoyono's airplane landed at Haneda Airport late Sunday and he was driven to central Tokyo, a government official said, adding he had no official event later in the day.

The Indonesian leader and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe were "expected to reach an overall agreement on liberalizing bilateral trade at their summit", said a foreign ministry official who declined to be named.

On his last visit to Japan in June 2005, Yudhoyono agreed to launch talks on a free trade deal. The two sides had set a goal of striking a deal by the end of the year, but negotiations have bogged down.

This time, Abe and Yudhoyono would agree to a general outline, with working-level talks set to hammer out the details, the official said.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun business daily said Japan would accept nurses, care workers and hotel trainees from Indonesia under the economic partnership agreement.

Indonesia would be only the second nation to send workers under a trade deal to Japan, which has tight controls on foreign labor. The first country was the Philippines, which can send a limited number of nurses to Japan under an agreement signed in September.

Japan, the world's second-largest economy, has increasingly sought bilateral free trade agreements, particularly in Southeast Asia, following the breakdown of global trade liberalization negotiations.

Indonesia is resource-poor Japan's biggest source of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and Abe is set to press for a stable supply when he meets Yudhoyono Tuesday.

Six Japanese firms are negotiating the renewal of LNG trade contracts with Indonesia's state-run Pertamina, which had reportedly indicated it would reduce exports to Japan from 2010 to meet rising domestic demand.

"(During) the summit, the prime minister is expected to ask the Indonesian leader for a stable supply of energy, including LNG," said Japanese trade ministry official Yohei Otani.

Indonesia accounted for 24 percent of Japan's total LNG imports in 2005, followed by neighboring Malaysia, which gave 23 percent.

Yudhoyono was expected to sign pacts on cooperation in energy and education, Yuri Thamrin, the director of East Asia and Pacific Affairs at Indonesia's foreign ministry, said in Jakarta.

He would also sign an agreement for Japan to support mass transit in traffic-clogged Jakarta, Thamrin said.

A 27-kilometer (17-mile) monorail project was inaugurated in June 2004 by then-president Megawati Sukarnoputri, but work has since been hampered by a lack of money and wrangling over what technology to use.

Two lines will serve Jakarta's business districts and outer areas. The first line is supposed to be completed by next year. Abe is also expected to consult with Yudhoyono about North Korea, which has longstanding ties with Indonesia.

Japan, which has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, has championed a hard line against Pyongyang. It banned all North Korean imports after its October 9 test of a nuclear bomb.

Yudhoyono in July sent an envoy to the reclusive communist state but called off plans to go himself after North Korea test-fired seven missiles in Japan's direction.