Palestinian Ambassadors follow diplomatic training in Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - An international diplomacy training which had been going on for almost a month now in Jakarta and in some other cities in Indonesia were followed by 23 foreign diplomats, including four Palestinians who are ambassadors to Bulgaria, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.

Deputy Foreign Minister Triyono Wibowo when opening the training in Jakarta Thursday said that the training for the Palestinian officials was one form of Indonesia`s high commitment to help the struggle of the Palestinian people.

The diplomatic training opened at the foreign ministry on Thursday was a Foreign Service Staff School held from March 30 to April 24, 2009.

The third Sesparlu was attended by 13 senior diplomats from Indonesia and nine diplomats from China, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and Laos as well as four Palestinian ambassadors.

Myanmar, Indonesia seek direct trade link

www.chinaview.cn, 2009-03-29 10:39:54

YANGON, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar and Indonesia are seeking direct trade link, direct banking transaction and direct Yangon-Jakarta air link to boost their bilateral economic and cooperation, the leading local weekly Yangon Times reported in this week's issue, quoting Indonesian official sources.

So far, the two countries are trading through Malaysia, carrying out banking transaction through Singapore and connecting without direct air link.

The report also quoted the two countries' businessmen as saying that Indonesia imported from Myanmar beans and pulses, onions and marine products, while it exported to Myanmar in return crude oil, cigarettes, and medicines.

Indonesia's beans and pulses import from Myanmar amounted to 20,000 tons annually, the report added.

Indonesia is Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, having a bilateral trade of 235.09 million U.S. dollars with Myanmar in 2008. Of the total, Indonesia’s exports to Myanmar amounted to 209.03 million dollars, while its imports from Myanmar were valued at 26.06 million dollars, according to Myanmar official statistics.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's investment in Myanmar has so far reached over 241 million dollars since late 1988 when Myanmar opened to such investment, standing the 9th among Myanmar's foreign investors.

Editor: Deng Shasha

RI to provide $1 million in relief aid to Myanmar

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has decided to provide relief aid worth US$1 million to Myanmar to help victims of Cyclone Nargis that left around 15,000 people dead or missing and caused serious damage to the country, a presidential spokesman said.

The tragedy reminded President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of the deadly tsunami in Aceh on December 26, 2004, Dino Patty Djalal said at the presidential oOffice here on Tuesday.

"That`s why the president decided to provide US$1 million in aid to Myanmar," he said.

The relief aid which included medicines and food would soon be flown to Myanmar using two Indonesian military (TNI) Hercules planes, he said.

On Tuesday morning, President Yudhoyono contacted an official at the Myanmarese Embassy in Jakarta, Kyi Maung Oo, to ask what the Myanmarese government and people needed, Dino said.

Dino quoted Maung Oo as saying that he still had difficulty contacting government officials in Yangon as communication networks were damaged.

In the phone talks, Maung Oo expressed gratitude to President Yudhoyono for the relief aid, Dino said.

He said the president had ordered the coordinating minister for people`s welfare to coordinate with the TNI chief in dispatching the relief aid.

He said so far there had been no report of Indonesian citizens being among the victims of the natural disaster in Myanmar.

Related Story:

RI sends aid to Myanmar, sealed with SBY letter

Images of Aceh Earthquake 9.2 /Tsunami Disaster December 2004

Thailand in search for energy supply from neighbouring countries

Google/AFP, 4 hours ago

BATAM, Indonesia (AFP) — Southeast Asia's biggest offshore oil platform, weighing in at 16,800 tonnes, is near completion in Indonesia's island of Batam. Destined for the Arthit gas fields in the Gulf of Thailand, the half-billion-dollar behemoth is expected to soon take centre stage in Thailand's bid to escalate drilling and secure energy supplies.

Natural gas generates nearly all of the electricity in Thailand, which long ago shed its rural roots and is galloping towards greater urbanisation and a broader industrial base.

Demand for gas is expected to rise by an annual average of 8.4 percent through to 2015, and Thailand's top energy firm PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), which will take control of the Batam rig, hopes to be operating the nation's largest gas production facility by February 2008.

Even with capacity of nearly 370 million cubic feet per day, the massive Arthit project will not be able to supply power-hungry Thailand which is already looking further afield to meet demand.

"The existing domestic supply of natural gas is likely to be wiped out in the next 18 years," said PTTEP spokesman Sidhichai Jayant.

"Consequently, we are in need of natural gas supplies from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam, which have larger reserves than us, to fulfill future consumption."

While domestic gas supplies currently account for about half of Thailand's consumption, PTTEP plans to invest some 70 billion baht (two billion dollars) in overseas energy projects over the next five years as it anticipates heavier reliance on foreign gas reserves.

"Energy supplies from abroad are critical for Thailand, especially for long-term reliability as local supplies of gas and oil are limited," said Chavalit Pichalai of the Energy Policy and Planning Office.

"Even though we are diversifying to coal-fired and nuclear power generation, natural gas will remain a key source of electricity. We need to diversify our overseas gas supplies for long-term stability," he said.

This could prove tricky in a region beset by territorial disputes and, in the case of Myanmar, Thailand's largest supplier, political instability.

Myanmar's bloody crackdown on anti-government protests has sparked international condemnation and could force Bangkok to re-assess its trade relationship with its neighbour, which accounts for more than 30 percent of Thailand's energy supplies.

Although PTTEP says exploration is continuing in Myanmar's lucrative M-9 gas field in the southwestern Gulf of Martaban, experts warn that Thailand's supply lines, and reputation, could suffer with continued unrest in military-ruled Myanmar.

"Any interruption of the gas supply from there will put Thailand in a difficult position," said Suthiphan Chirathivat, associate professor of economics at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"Thailand should prepare contingency plans for any emergency in Myanmar.

"Meanwhile, the Thai government has to be more cautious in continuing its economic partnership with Myanmar if we don't want to have conflict with Western countries," he added.

Thanatthep Chatarakarn, energy analyst with Bua Luang Securities, said Thailand should look to alternative gas suppliers such as Indonesia and the Middle East.

"If negotiations for Myanmar's M-9 are affected by ongoing unrest there, PTTEP will be hard-pressed to secure more gas from abroad, especially if the Thai economy grows more than is projected," he said.

Diversifying energy sources could be difficult as the region's other booming economies also try to meet their own needs.

Indonesia's government has already said it wants to focus on supplying its own domestic energy needs from 2010.

PTTEP's Sidhichai said a significant oil project is now online in Vietnam and is expected to provide 20,000 barrels per day from the second half of 2008.

Elsewhere PTTEP has partnered with Malaysia's Petronas Carigali in a natural gas project expected to start next year, while two onshore drilling ventures have begun in Indonesia.

Since discovering oil in 2005, Cambodia is also being eyed as a source.

Thailand has acquired exploration rights for two projects in oil fields that are partially shared with its eastern neighbor, which is believed to have hundreds of millions of barrels of oil in its vast undersea reserves and could begin production as early as 2010.

However, boundary disputes have delayed drilling in one field, although talks are reportedly underway to resolve the disagreement and free up access to millions more barrels.