[ARG] Call to Indonesia

[Naio90]

The president of the Argentine Republic would request and set a private call with his indonesian counterpart. This call would be part of the argentine efforts to establish good and mutually benefitial relations with other southern nations, and Indonesia fits the bill by being one of the most important muslim-majority nations and a regional power in south-east Asia.

The President would be accompanied by the Director for Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of International Commerce and some other minor advisors. The agenda included a variety of issues the president wated to talk about, like bilteral commerce, cultural exchange and scientific cooepration, among other things.

Cloudy Skies

 

[Cloudy Skies]

The newly elected president Habibie answers the call promptly, still joyous in his recent hand in the Reformation process. Alone and on an encrypted network, he was well prepared to begin his duty in the transitional period!

"My secretary tells me you are Argentina's fine Cambiasso! What can I do for you today, Lieutenant General?"

Naio90

 

[Naio90]

"Mr. President, thank you very much for taking our call, we were happy to hear that a country with a potential such as Indonesia was finally able to overcome the internal struggles and has started to move internationally and project its power and interests abroad. It is obviously also my intention to congratulate you on your rise to power.

We would like to discuss a variety of issues, including bilateral trade and investments, cultural trade and general cooperation. As you might have heard, Argentina has been following a strong South-South Cooperation policy for years, and we are always eager to assist in the development of similar and likeminded countries.

Before we continue, is this call encrypted? We did it on our end, but we just wanted to be sure that everything talked on this official level is communicated properly."

Cloudy Skies

 

[Cloudy Skies]

"Thank you very much, Mr. President! I am more than happy to be finally exacting the will of the people and pushing Indonesia towards a democratic beacon in Southeast Asia. It is much work and I am only to serve as her President for a transitional period, until the country can again stand on its own without a despot, benevolent or otherwise."

Habibie pauses to give a hearty chuckle.

"This call is encrypted. I would be happy to discuss all of these topics with you, though the details may have to go through a few Ministries... Tell me, what does Argentina have in mind?"

Naio90

 

[Naio90]

"To start with, let me expand a little on Argentina's Foreign Policy.

As mentioned before, we have an active policy of cooperation and assisting southern hemisphere nations, or countries that had not the... "luck"... to ride the colonization and exploitation wave few centuries ago and that had to endure a long struggle to obtain a full political independence and economic sovereignty. To this day there are nations that go around impossing their interests on others and disregarding different points of view just to accomplish their own agendas.

To help these nations, we always offer to increase bilateral commerce with Argentina in order to promote our partners industry and economy to growth through the accesion to new markets. Argentina's industry for instance is continuously growing and looking for new providers of commodities and resources. In return, we can also offer our own goods and products. This is usually a first step to build trust between Governments, with the second objective being to increase the cultural exchange through reciprocal investment projects.

Our nations might be far away geographically, but we share challenges, and therefore we know how hard it is to "start over". We even have a very close ally in your region, the Rattanakosin Kingdom, which I would suggest you contact. I'm confident they will want to assist you as well whenever possible.

Does your transitional Government have an idea of how and under which position you want to insert Indonesia back into the interntional community?"

Cloudy Skies

 

[Cloudy Skies]

Habibie listens intently with a brow raised, leaning forward in his chair to cup the nice black plastic of his new and very important phone.

"Bilateral commerce is an obvious agreement, one we hope to give many countries; this incident with Russia has given me perspective that I appreciate, even with the pain it is causing Europe. As such, I would not want anything limiting my economy, not that I suspect you would offer me anything like that." He pauses again to take a drink, mulling over the proposals given to him. "Investments abroad are a feat Indonesia may best accomplish after it has truly modernized, Mr. President. I would gladly offer the gesture of investments from Argentina to my Ministers, but I see no reason why not to pay forward a loan in small sums over the course of... five years, perhaps. As long as Indonesians work on the projects, under state company supervision, Argentinian investment would be greatly appreciated. I've been already thinking of similar requests for other nations."

Habibie clears his throat, relaxing slightly and smiling. "To your last question, I can only say with certainty that Indonesia will emerge as a democracy, true and complete. Already the restrictions on political parties have fallen, and they've been popping up everywhere! From what I've seen so far, we are entering a new and modern age for the country, though I cannot say for certain how the politics will unravel. Regardless, the people want to move on and rejoin the stage that is the world, so you will not need worry about more isolation! Did you have anything else for me, Mr. President?"

Naio90

 

[Naio90]

"What does Indonesia primarily export? We would be interested for instance in access to the indonesian market for our grain, vehicles and fossil fuels. In return obviously we can open our own market to indonesian producers.

As for investments, is there any specific area you wish to develop? Argentina has a lot of experience in the agri-industrial sector, with highly competitive outputs thanks to last-gen technology and techniques. If Indonesie is interested, we could start cooperation on that field though an agricultural cooperation agreement. This would include argentine investments in Indonesia for the potential opening of agricultural equipment factories, such as tractors and haversters. We could also provide assistance on a more biological level, through our National Agricultural Technology Institute, commonly known as INTA, in charge of the generation, adaptation and diffusion of technologies, knowledge and learning procedures for the agriculture, forest and agro-industrial activities within an ecologically clean environment.

On a political level, we are glad to see another big democracy rise on the horizon. Do you have an estimated time plan for the new elections or constitution of the definitive Government?"

Cloudy Skies

 

[Cloudy Skies]

"Primarily, my friend, Indonesian exports for this great new year ahead are expected to shift, with help, towards natural gas, petroleum, plywood, and copper. There's a great copper mine in Papau I've got my interests in."

Habibie smiles, sitting back and nodding slowly to himself.

"I would indeed be interested in agricultural equipment and this knowledge. Tell me, would you be opposed to this 'INTA' being a part of new educational programs across Indonesia? From what I hope, the new elections for the government of Indonesia will be in September, or earlier if all goes well. The constitution is..." He pauses and sighs. "Hazy, at best. Things must change, of course, but it is a process I hope to achieve by the same date."

Naio90

 

[Naio90]

"I am confident we could reach an extensive agreement on agricultural cooperation, that could include argentine investements in Indonesia to establish a agricultural hardware factory to serve as a national and regional hub for advanced equipment like the tractors and harversters I mendioned. This would also create several skilled job positions for the local population and would significantly reduce the operational costs of such machinery in your country, as maintenance and service could be provided locally. I do have to meet with the Minister of Industry, but I'm confident we could reach a investment of up to 400M, with the help of the private sector as well.

As for the INTA, if your Government is able to specify in which specific areas of development you would like to focus, we could prepare a team to travel to Indonesia as part of the Agricultural Cooperation Agreement and meet with your people to determine how best to implement everything.

Finally, regarding bilateral commerce, we are interested in acquiring Indonesian plywood and copper. Would you be open to import argentine vehicles and grain? We could even offer to take care of all the logistics, using our big merchant navy."

Cloudy Skies

 

[Cloudy Skies]

Habibie hummed politely after all offers were laid before him.

"For these investments and INTA's aid, I could agree to this Agricultural Cooperation and trade these goods with you. I am still waiting for new merchant ships for Indonesian National Shipping to take control of, but if you would allow your own ships to bear these goods I see no reason to decline! What would be needed in return for these investments and aid, or is the trade enough? I would happily set up imports of vehicles and grain of Argentinian origin!"

Naio90