Ecuador reopens its embassy in Jakarta

Veeramalla Anjaiah and Lilian Budianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/10/2009 2:45 PM  

It seems Indonesia is too important for Ecuador to ignore. The small resource-rich South American state reopened its embassy recently after closing it down for more than two months. 

"We are back in business. We reopened our embassy and now we are working normally," Ecuadoran Ambassador to Indonesia Rodrigo Yepes-Enriquez told The Jakarta Post in an exclusive interview last week at his office in Jakarta. 

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa decided to close down the embassy on Dec. 31, 2008, without citing any reason. There was speculation that Correa's rapid-fire decision had to do with the sudden cancellation of a visit by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Ecuador in November 2008. 

"I can't speculate on the rumors. The visit was not cancelled but postponed. Our president also received a letter from Indonesia's State Secretariat to reopen the embassy. We have now decided to reopen it, that's all," Ambassador Yepes-Enriquez said. 

Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said Ecuador had not given specific reasons when they closed the embassy last year. 

"They mentioned financial difficulties as among the reasons. There must be some consideration behind their decision to reopen the embassy," Faizasyah told the Post. 

In an effort to strengthen the two countries' relations, Indonesia has moved a step further. 

"Indonesia has also decided to open an embassy in Ecuador pending a review by the House of Representatives. This could be one of the reasons Ecuador decided to open its embassy again. Indonesia has its own interests in opening an embassy there, which include economic reasons," Faizasyah said. 

Yepes-Enriquez agreed with Faizasyah. 

"Being Southeast Asia's largest economy, Indonesia is an important country for us in this region. Moreover, both countries' oil companies have already completed negotiations on cooperation in the energy sector. They will soon sign an agreement regarding allocation of an oil contract to PT Pertamina (state oil and gas company) in Ecuador," he said. 

Ecuador's trade with Indonesia has also growing rapidly in recent years. 

"Our trade tripled in five years. But it was not that big. Moreover, we have to balance our trade by increasing our exports to Indonesia," Yepes-Enriquez said. 

Bilateral trade surged to US$44.24 million in 2007, a huge jump from $13.18 million in 2003. Last year, it jumped further to $50.91 million in the first 11 months, a 29.07 percent increase from $39.44 percent in the same period in 2007. 

According to Yepes-Enriquez, Ecuador also plans to award huge contracts to Indonesian companies like telecoms provider PT Telkom and aeronautical manufacturers PT Dirgantara. 

Yepes-Enriquez said Ecuador was seeking close relations with Indonesia. 

"My main mission is not only to strengthen our relations with Indonesia, but also deepen and widen them," he said.

Pertamina, Petroecuador ink exploration agreement

Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

State oil and gas company PT Pertamina will team up with Ecuador's national oil firm, Petroecuador, for the preliminary exploration of three blocks in the Latin American country.

Witnessed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Ecuador's President Rafael Correra Delgado, the two state firms on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation at the State Palace in Jakarta.

Later in the day, on the sidelines of a luncheon with Ecuador's president, Pertamina president director Ari H. Soemarno said his company was exploring the possibility of expanding its overseas operation to Ecuador and was set to spend US$50 million during the first year of operation to gather technical data on the three blocks' reserves.

The names of the three blocks, according to Ari, are Guanta, Dureno and offshore Lago Agrio.

Petroecuador executive president Carlos Pareja Yannuzzelli said the partnership with Pertamina was forged to realize the government of Ecuador's goal to increase its oil production.

Ecuador, which was just granted membership to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries during a recent summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has produced about 500,000 barrels of oil per day this year.

"We will give Pertamina 90 days to gather all the technical data, and after that we hope Pertamina can submit their offer for the actual exploration development plan," Yannuzzelli said.

He said the form of the partnership and the share composition between the two companies in each block would be decided later, pending the results of the preliminary exploration.

Refusing to give exact figures, he estimated the investment for the projects would involve "hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars".

Monday's agreement bodes well to Pertamina's intention to pursue overseas expansion, to help improve its output and global standing.

It just won an oil block in Qatar, in which it holds a 25 percent interest, with partner Wintershall -- the world's largest German-based oil and gas drilling company.

Pertamina is also the operator of two oil blocks in Libya, onshore and offshore, and the holder of a 15 percent share in an offshore oil field in Sudan operated by China National Petroleum Corporation and a local partner.

Commenting on the company's recent bid for an oil block in Iran, Ari said the company had been outbid by other companies.

"However, the Iranian government is still considering having us as its partner on other projects. We are still discussing it," he said.