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Lee wants strong RI govt with ASEAN perspective
Lee Hsien Loong: (Reuters)Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that this yearâs elections in Indonesia should bring in a new strong government that would work toward a more integrated Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and overcome unresolved bilateral issues
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Lee Hsien Loong: (Reuters) (Reuters)
Lee Hsien Loong: (Reuters)
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that this year's elections in Indonesia should bring in a new strong government that would work toward a more integrated Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and overcome unresolved bilateral issues.
'We in Singapore look forward to working with a strong Indonesian government, one that will take an ASEAN perspective, the way the present Indonesian government has and the way president Soeharto did for many decades,' PM Lee told Asia News Network editors here on Tuesday.
As the biggest country in the region, Indonesia has taken a leading role in ASEAN. However, it is considered to be one of the least prepared countries for the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), initially slated for early 2015 but then delayed to the end of 2015.
Lee, however, did not expect another delay, as much of the work toward the AEC had been completed. Even if some of the work was not ready by the end of 2015, ASEAN could continue working on that into 2016.
'But that's the way ASEAN is. It's a work in progress, and when you complete some jobs, well, new possibilities arise and new problems need to be solved,' he said during a roundtable discussion with editors of Asia News Network, of which The Jakarta Post is a member.
He also gave a different assessment on Indonesia's readiness for the AEC. In his view, Indonesia was one of the more prepared countries for the AEC, considering its strong economic performance compared to its peers, growing middle class and its growing international influence.
Lee also spoke about the recurrent issue of haze that has especially affected Singapore and Malaysia.
'I think it's a problem. I think the Indonesian government knows it's a problem,' he said
According to Lee, the answer to the haze is simple: Stop burning. However, to stop burning, countries must have laws and enforce them, and they must have sustainable agricultural practices.
Speaking on his city-state's bilateral relations with Indonesia, Lee described them as good, but added that there were some pending issues that needed to be worked out with the new government in Indonesia, including unfinished negotiations on the extradition treaty and the defense cooperation agreement.
'With your incoming government, I hope that we will be able to continue working constructively in areas in which we are cooperating and overcome some of the problems that we have not yet solved,'
'I don't think it will be easy. Otherwise, the problems would have been solved earlier,' he said.
He understands that the Indonesian government sometimes faces difficulties in reaching agreement with Singapore because of politics and nationalist pressures.
'For example, when it comes to economic issues, such as investment, companies often invest in Indonesia and then when they do well, there is pressure to divest. And when you don't divest, well, it is deemed that you didn't do the right thing.
'I can understand the nationalist pressures, but when that sort of thing happens, I think it discourages other investors from coming in. So, those are some of the issues we have had to deal with,' he said.
