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French envoy discourages boycott, defends call against ‘Islamist separatism’
France currently ranks 19th in terms of investments in Indonesia and is fifth among European countries such as the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany.
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Supermarket shelves are empty of French products in Kuwait City on Friday, in protest of cartoons depicting Islam's Prophet Mohamed published in the French media. France will not give up cartoons, President Emmanuel Macron vowed this week in a homage to teacher Samuel Paty, beheaded for having shown caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed to pupils in a lesson on free speech. (AFP/Yasser Al Zayyat)
F
rench Ambassador to Jakarta Olivier Chambard has cautioned Indonesians against the call to boycott French products following global uproar condemning comments by President Emmanuel Macron on “Islamist separatism”.
The envoy suggested that a boycott would hurt not only his country’s economic interests but also Indonesia’s own, as he backed Macron’s campaign against the misuse of religion to overturn the European country’s liberal values.
Some 50,000 Indonesian workers employed by French companies could be among those affected, Chambard noted, by a global boycott launched last week in response to Macron’s declaration of war on “separatism”, which he insists is taking root in some French Muslim communities.
The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has backed calls for a boycott on French products, according to a statement signed by MUI secretary-general Anwar Abbas earlier this month. Muslim countries such as Jordan, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, Pakistan and Bangladesh have already begun boycotting French-made goods.
“It's a bit like shooting your own foot to boycott products that are made in Indonesia, produced in Indonesia, sold in Indonesia and sometimes to the region, [which is] good for Indonesian exports,” he told reporters in a press briefing on Monday.
France currently ranks 19th in terms of investments in Indonesia and is fifth among European countries such as the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany.
During the Indonesia Infrastructure Investment Forum (IIIF) coorganized by the Indonesian Embassy in Paris and the MEDEF International nonprofit organization, Indonesia offered up 41 major infrastructure projects to French investors amounting to US$439.98 billion in various sectors, including transportation, electricity, logistics and eco-city development.
