Indonesia invites Anwar to give talk on crisis

The Star, Saturday 25 October 1997

KUALA LUMPUR: The Indonesian government has invited Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to give a talk on the region's currency and stock market crisis, which will be broadcast in the republic.

Angkatan Muda Pembaharuan Indonesia deputy president Henry Indera Utama said Indonesia was eager to hear Anwar's views and steps taken by Malaysia to overcome the situation so it could be applied to Indonesia's situation.

Henry, who extended the invitation to his Umno Youth counterpart Datuk Hishamuddin Hussein yesterday, said the date of the talk would be confirmed later.

Anwar is highly respected in Indonesia as a former youth leader and Finance Minister, Henry said.

Henry and Hishamuddin met yesterday to discuss issues related to both countries including the depreciating currencies, stock markets, the haze and the SEA Games in Indonesia.

Hishamuddin said the discussion was to forge a better understanding of issues which had been used by certain parties to create political tension between Malaysia and Indonesia.

He said Asean countries should learn from the currency crisis and co-operate to fully utilise their commodities to restrengthen their economy.

The private sector in Asean countries should be more responsible and help each other during such times, he said.

However, Hishamuddin said before Asean countries could regain economic stability, they should give priority to political stability.

This way, they will not give the opportunity to the foreign media and countries to misuse certain issues to create tension, he said.

He also said criticism by the foreign media that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad's outspoken comments had led to Malaysia's currency fallout was unjustified as even Hong Kong suffered when its stock market plunged.

There is no magic or miracle in our economic growth and it was all through our hard work. We know the extent of our capabilities and strength and we must use this knowledge to anticipate hard times, he said.