By Olivia Rondonuwu
JAKARTA, April 30 (Reuters) - China will speed up the
development of transport connections with Southeast Asia,
building roads, telecommunication and power links as it seeks to
boost trade, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday.
Wen, speaking in Jakarta during a two-day visit to
Indonesia, said China would give financial support through
credit aid and investment, to provide for better exchange of
commodities, capital and people.
"In the next 10 years we will speed up the inauguration of
land transport routes between China and ASEAN," said Wen in a
speech in Jakarta, adding it will also provide funds for air and
sea transport. "Today we witness the rise of Asia."
He said China would unconditionally help underdeveloped
countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
ASEAN has sought to highlight the potential for greater
connections between its frontier markets and Asia's biggest
economic power, with the group's foreign ministers heading on an
unconventional road trip in January from Thailand to China.
Indonesia is seeking $100 billion of private investment to
develop its own dilapidated infrastructure, seen as a hurdle to
attracting foreign firms and to gaining a sovereign investment
grade rating that would cut government borrowing costs and put
it on a par with BRIC nations such as China and Brazil.
Wen's schedule in Jakarta looked ambitious for a capital hit
by tropical downpours on Saturday that flooded roads and jammed
traffic. Bad roads in the archipelago cause delays adding to
costs and exacerbating inflation, while air and boat accidents
are all too common.
Wen promised Indonesia $9 billion worth of loans for
infrastructure on Friday, after meeting his Indonesian
counterpart, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
ASEAN's plan to link new and existing rail, road and sea
routes together with China and allow better travel within a free
trade area of 1.9 billion people is ambitious.
But analysts say there is huge trade potential between ASEAN
and China and better links could encourage Japan and South Korea
to forge a closer relationship with ASEAN. Japan has already
pledged more than $50 billion in infrastructure investment.
China, ASEAN's biggest trading partner, is seeking to double
trade with Indonesia and get access to resources from a country
that is a leading exporter of natural gas, palm oil and coal.
However, many Indonesian businesses are worried about a
flood of cheap Chinese goods and a widening trade deficit with
the Asian powerhouse. Yudhoyono asked for trade between the two
countries to be balanced.
"China's development will not disturb any countries and will
not be a threat to other countries," Wen said, according to a
translation of his speech obtained by Reuters, adding China's
foreign policy was free, independent and peaceful.
Southeast Asian countries have clashed with China over rival
claims over potentially oil- and gas-rich islands in the South
China Sea which is seen by China as its backyard, while many see
the United States as a buffer against a dominant China.
Earlier in his two-day visit, which followed a trip to
Malaysia, Wen sought to build trust and cultural links between
two countries historically suspicious of each other, telling
students at a Muslim university he had read the Koran.
(Additional reporting by Aditya Suharmoko; Writing by Neil
Chatterjee; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here