By M. Jusuf Kalla, vice-president of the Republic of Indonesia

First of all, on behalf of the people of Indonesia, I would like to extend our appreciation for the material assistance and moral support given by the Chinese Government and people in the wake of the tsunami and earthquake disaster in Aceh and North Sumatera.

Such assistance and support demonstrate the close ties existing between the two countries and peoples. Furthermore, we welcome China's continued participation in assisting the reconstruction process of areas affected by the disaster.

It is an interesting time to explore and to discuss many issues faced by Indonesia, as well as the new chapter of Indonesia-China relationship.

Indonesia has just completed its long and difficult journey to become more democratic, more prosperous and more stable.

Now, we want to see the problems we are facing in a new perspective, with a new determination to solve them.

The Indonesian general election went very smoothly in 2004. Peaceful general election which elected President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and me as a new President and Vice-President had posed confidence to the economy.

This was reflected by a remarkable Jakarta Stock Exchange Index performance, high investment growth, as well as the improved revision of Indonesia's economic growth and foreign credit rating by all major international rating agencies.

This drove investors, largely foreigners, to buy selected Indonesian blue chips in stock market.

Following a peaceful Presidential election, the economy expanded remarkably by 6.7 per cent year-on-year in the last quarter of 2004.

The high growth of the fourth quarter led the Indonesian economy to expand at 5.13 per cent year-on-year in 2004.

Despite the tsunami disaster that caused unprecedented number of casualties, and international threat including high oil price, the Indonesian economy is shifting from consumption-led growth towards exports, consumption and investment-led growth.

It is true that since the economic crisis in 1997 economic growth continued to depend heavily on consumption, however the reverse happened in 2004.

Investment grew much higher than expected, by 13.64 per cent during the first semester of 2005. This has made investment as the largest contributor of Indonesian economic growth.

Meanwhile, total exports remained high and grew by 27.5 per cent during the first semester of 2005.

Now, let me briefly touch upon the Indonesia-China relationship, which has embarked on a new chapter.

On April 25, 2005, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Hu Jintao signed an historical document: Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership.

The signing coincided with the commemoration of two other historical events that have bounded the two countries together: the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 50th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia.

We agree that Indonesia and China have become important partners for co-operation and that, as two major developing countries, we should develop a strategic perspective in addressing our long-term interests and take our relations to a new level to the benefit of our two countries and peoples as well as to make new contributions to solidarity and co-operation among the developing countries and to peace and development of mankind.

The strategic partnership shall provide a basis for close co-ordination and co-operation in regional, inter-regional, and international fora and organizations with a view to building comprehensive and mutually beneficial ties in meeting the challenges of the new millennium and strengthening regional and international peace, stability and prosperity.

The strategic partnership shall focus on strengthening political and security co-operation, deepening economic and development co-operation, enhancing socio-cultural co-operation, and expanding non-governmental exchanges.

The implementation of the strategic partnership has materialized very quickly.

In the fields of economics and development, we aim the volume of trade between Indonesia and China would reach US$30 billion in 2010, from about US$13.5 billion last year.

The two governments and business communities agreed to explore the potential for the establishment of an Indonesia-China investment promotion mechanism which would provide a means to address specific issues pertaining to the promotion of investment in both countries.

We also appreciate China's participation in assisting Indonesia's infrastructure development through the provision of grants and preferential loans, and note with satisfaction the current co-operation in the energy sector between the two countries.

The two countries also stressed that closer people-to-people and business-to-business contacts are conducive to furthering the ties between the two countries and enhancing each other's national economic development.

On this point, Indonesia will soon introduce visa and immigration facility on Garuda Indonesia's flights from China to Indonesia, in addition to the visa-on-arrival facility that has been provided to all Chinese visitors to Indonesia. These facilities show our commitment in welcoming Chinese visitors with open doors and hearts.

In the socio-cultural field, we have witnessed the signing of the arrangement concerning Chinese language teaching in Indonesia, and discussed the possibility of establishing a centre for Chinese culture and the teaching of Chinese language in Indonesia.

In short, this is the right time for every Indonesian and every Chinese to get to know each other better and explore all the possibilities of economic and socio-cultural relationships between the two countries.

The Governments have laid the solid foundation, now it is for the peoples to experience and enjoy these opportunities.

(China Daily 08/30/2005 page1)