Kalla gets RI's youth on board while SBY away

Abdul Khalik , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 03/12/2008 1:34 AM | Headlines

Vice President Jusuf Kalla told students at the University of Indonesia here Tuesday he felt at home on campus grounds because everything was yellow, including the buses.

Kalla is chairman of the Golkar Party, which claims yellow as its trademark color, as does the state university.

"This campus should become the country's future," the vice president said.

Despite soaring temperatures in the lecture hall where Kalla delivered his one-and-a-half hour speech, hundreds of students reportedly lined up to hear Kalla talk about Indonesia's current situation and future prospects on a global scale.

Kalla told the students much success had been enjoyed by the current administration around improvements to the country's economy.

"Our economy grew 6.3 percent last year," he said.

"This is the highest growth in 10 years after the financial crisis.

"If there was no U.S. recession, I am optimistic that we could achieve seven or even eight percent growth."

Kalla convinced the young crowd Indonesia could overcome its global challenges and become a prosperous country, considering its huge natural resources and energy sources.

"We can do that if we work hard.

"Yes, we admit that there is still 16 percent of people living in poverty but we are trying to reduce that figure.

"We understand that some people are angry, but we can't solve the problem with anger and fight with each other.

"We should create stability if we want to develop our economy," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is currently out of the country on a 10-day state visit to four countries and Kalla was busy wooing young voters ahead of the presidential election next year.

One of his staff said the Vice President would never reject an invitation from students.

"Padjadjaran University in Bandung will be a good next visit," the staff member said, without specifying the date.

Political pundits have said Kalla and Yudhoyono would compete to woo voters before contesting the upcoming presidential race separately.

Kalla praised Indonesia's state of peace after conflicts in Aceh in Sumatra, Poso in Central Sulawesi, and Ambon in Maluku.

He said the conflicts had been resolved and peace had returned to all regions over the last three years, in which he was involved in the process.

Indonesia's huge natural resources had seen developed countries such as Japan, Korea and even China grow to need Indonesia more than Indonesia needed them, Kalla said.

"Every time I meet officials from those countries, they always ask us if we can increase our energy supplies to them," he said.

The students asked about Indonesia's dependence on foreign countries in developing and exploiting its natural resources and Kalla said the republic must stand on his own feet when it comes to foreign involvement.

He said Indonesia had started to use its own people to build infrastructure locally including roads, bridges and airports, as well as to exploit its gas and oil fields.

"We have just terminated a Rp 400 trillion project in Natuna with Exxon and handed it to Pertamina, while we will bring Newmont to the international arbitration because they failed to fulfill the contract," he said.

Much applause followed Kalla's speech.

"It was very entertaining and enlightening," a student said afterward.

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