REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Having an opportunity to discuss Indonesian issues in Poland, Professor Emeritus Dorodjatun Kuntjoro Jakti concluded that the Polish were so eager to know about Indonesia. He also found some opportunities to improve relations between two countries.
“I gave a public lecture about Indonesian perspective on global issues and also Indonesian plan to develop our defence system,” Kuntjoro Jakti said on Wednesday.
People of Polands, he said, were fascinated by “free and active” foreign policy of Indonesia. “I explained that the policy was different from ‘neutral’. Simply I told them that our defence system was rather active defencive than aggressive,” the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs in President Megawati Soekarnoputri’s Cabinet (2001-2004) added.
In economy, he said, Indonesia had opportunity to export some goods to Poland including cooking oil, rubber, or mining sector. To penetrate the Polish market, he added, Indonesia must learn its distinct character. “As a former socialist country, Poland is very discipline.”
While Indonesia with a huge population, is a good market for Polish products, such as furniture and upholstery. He underlined that Poland could eye the middle class in Indonesia which counted 40 percent of population.
“Those products have fine quality, but most of them are absorbed by Germany or other countries in Europe,” Kuntjoro Jakti explained. Hence, he suggested both countries to establish a counter or outlet to promote their domestic products.
“Poland is an incredible country, since the development was tremendously improved after shifting from socialism to market oriented system,” he said.
Yet, he also explained that Poland lied in European market with a tradition of strong market system. “Unlike ASEAN, we still struggle to build the system from scratch.”
At the same occasion, Polish Ambassador to Indonesia, Grzegorz Wisniewski, promised to improve contact between two countries, “Not only government to government level, but also people to people”.
He cited, the value of export from Indonesia to Poland was more than 200 million USD. “The export value from Poland to Indonesia is about 180 million USD. The balance is not important, but we need more contacts. Poland does not have tradition to trade with Asia due to the distance. But the Asian economy grows incredibly, so Asia gets our attention,” he added.
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