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Czech Republic mulling new Yogyakarta airport: Envoy
As economies in the area grow, the Czech Republic wants to enhance its ties in the Asia-Pacific region
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As economies in the area grow, the Czech Republic wants to enhance its ties in the Asia-Pacific region. As part of this ambition, the Czech Republic is looking to forge a strong relationship with Indonesia, says the Czech ambassador to Indonesia.
"It's my main mission to improve the overall relationship between the two countries. I would like to focus on increasing our cooperation in power generation, agroindustry, transport infrastructure and environmental technologies," Ambassador Pavel Rezac, who submitted his credentials to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Jan. 30, 2007, told The Jakarta Post in an interview at his office in Jakarta recently.
The Czech Republic, a Central European state of 10.3 million people, has a special interest in transport infrastructure development in Indonesia.
The Czech Republic, Rezac said, took part in the Indonesia Transport and Logistics Expo in August, 2008, in Jakarta. The Czech delegation was headed by the deputy minister of transportation Ivo Vykydal.
Rezac said his country was conducting a feasibility study for a new international airport in Yogyakarta.
"Hopefully, the feasibility study will be completed by the end of this year. We want to build this airport in Yogyakarta," Rezac, who speaks fluent Indonesian, said.
Currently, the runway of Yogyakarta's Adisucipto International Airport is very short and not suitable for bigger planes. Moreover, the present airport is in the middle of the city. It has to be moved to the outskirts to handle bigger and more frequent planes.
Rezac characterized the present state of relations between the two countries as being "in excellent shape".
"We have a high level of exchange. But our main focus is on improving economic ties," Rezac said.
According to Rezac, Czech exports to Indonesia are growing quite well and vice versa.
"But the balance of trade is heavily in favor of Indonesia, which exports almost triple the amount of goods compared to Czech exports here," Rezac said.
For example, Rezac continued, the total value of the bilateral trade last year surpassed US$300 million (see table). In the first 10 months of 2008, trade has already reached $225 million.
Indonesia mainly imports machinery, chemicals, electrical and power equipment, products for the defense industry, telecommunications equipment, textile machine tools, paper and powdered milk from the Czech Republic while it exports computer and electronic components, natural rubber, textile and garments, footwear, wood products and furniture in return.
Rezac, an experienced career diplomat, joined the foreign service in 1985, after graduating from the Faculty of Law of the Charles University in Prague.
His academic background made him better suited to becoming a diplomat rather than a lawyer.
"My main subject was international law. That's why I decided to join the foreign service under the former Czechoslovakia," Rezac said.
In the aftermath of the collapse of Soviet empire, in 1993 Czechoslovakia split into two states -- the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Rezac has worked in Moscow, Istanbul and The Hague in different positions at Czech missions. In 2001 he became an ambassador to Libya. Prior to coming to Jakarta, Rezac was working as the head of the unit and acting deputy director of the Middle East and African department at the Czech Foreign Ministry in Prague.
Since his arrival in Jakarta, Rezac, who also speaks fluent English, Russian and French, has developed a special interest in the Indonesian language.
"I worked hard to learn Bahasa Indonesia. I like this language," Rezac said.
According to Rezac, Indonesian people are very friendly and they have a unique culture.
"My wife and I are enjoying our stay in Indonesia. People are very nice, helpful and friendly," Rezac said.
Starting from January 2009, the Czech Republic will assume the European Union (EU) presidency from France.
"During our EU presidency, we will conduct more activities to strengthen our relations with Indonesia, as well as EU relations with Indonesia," Rezac said.
