South East Asia:Summary 105

At Political Front

• Indonesia

A political analyst from the University of Indonesia says that the current Coordinating Economic Minister, Hatta Radjasa, is the real president in the midst of the weak leadership coming from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“Currently, there are two dominant groups in the Cabinet. One that belongs to Mr. Silver Hair [Hatta] and the other that belongs to Vice President Boediono,” Thamrin Tamagola told a discussion at the House of Regional Representatives (DPD) in Jakarta on Friday.

“After the presidential election was over, Boediono group’s dominance has been put aside by that of Hatta. Now, the country needs to watch out whether Hatta manages to prevent Boediono having any authority, because the former’s policy and ambition to eradicate every law that regulates foreign investment has a disastrous potential for the people and the country,” he added.

Mr Obama, who spent part of his youth in the Indonesian capital Jakarta, has said he is looking forward to pay a visit to the city.

The US president has been invited by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.In Australia, Mr Obama will meet Prime Minster Kevin Rudd to solidify the good relationship they established in earlier meetings.

Indonesian authorities said Friday that a statue of US President Barack Obama as a boy would be moved to a Jakarta elementary school he once attended after public protests.

The bronze statue of a 10-year-old Obama was erected at a historic central Jakarta park in December, and it immediately drew criticism from Indonesians who said they believe an exemplary compatriot should receive such an honour.More than 55,000 people joined a page on the popular social-networking website Facebook to demand the statue be removed, and some protestors have threatened to tear down the bronze.

Thailand

Thailand's prime minister said Saturday he saw no threat of his government being ousted in a coup despite speculation back home, insisting that the rule of law would triumph over intimidation.

He called on all parties to respect the rule of law when the court issues its decision on Thaksin's assets Feb. 26.Abhisit acknowledged that some in Thailand were "frustrated" that the legal system has been slow in addressing transgressors among his own supporters, who were believed responsible for breaking into a government TV office, seizing the prime minister's office for three months and occupying Bangkok's two airports.

The Democrat Party does not fear a House dissolution as a recent survey showed that it could win as many as 240 seats in a general election, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Friday.Mr Abhisit’s remark was made while he was explaining the current political situation to students of King Prajadhipok’s Institute.

“We are confident that our party would win more parliamentary seats in the Central region and the North, but it is difficult to beat the opposition camp in the Northeast,” he said.He said the party's projection is possible and not a daydream.

• Philippine

Philippine presidential candidate Benigno Aquino's once-vast lead in the opinion polls has shrunk to just a few points, according to a survey published on Monday, a week before the start of campaigning.

Aquino, who had been predicted to take 60 percent of the vote in polls published when he first filed his candidacy for the May election, has seen his comfortable lead dry up as rival Manuel Villar gains momentum.

The Philippines government has offered southern Muslim separatists what it calls enhanced autonomy.Manila's chief negotiator Annabelle Abaya says the government hopes this fresh offer will convince the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to sign a peace accord before a new Philippine president is sworn in at the end of June.

She says in the concept of enhanced autonomy, President Gloria Arroyo is offering to share powers.Power-sharing with the large Muslim minority would cover such areas as tax collection and the control of natural resources in areas of the south that Filipino Muslims claim as their ancestral domain.

The offer was made in Malaysia last week when Moro and government panels met in Kuala Lumpur in the first formal peace talks since fighting broke out in 2008 over a failed draft peace accord.

Geo-Strategic Front

• Cambodia

The Cambodian government sent a strongly-worded letter Friday to US internet giant Google, complaining that its online Google Earth map incorrectly places parts of the 11th century Preah Vihear temple in Thailand.The letter comes ahead of an expected visit this weekend by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen to the temple, which is situated on land claimed by both Cambodia and neighbouring Thailand.

At Economic Front

• Indonesia

The 2009 economic growth rate was predicted to reach 4.3 percent, placing Indonesia in an elite group of countries with positive growth.

From a price stability perspective, inflation in 2009 was recorded only as high as 2.78 percent, the lowest in the last decade.

The Indonesian balance of payments in 2009 reached a surplus of around US$12 billion, supported by current account and capital account surpluses.

Indonesian foreign reserves at the end of 2009 were recorded at $66.1 billion, which is the equivalent of 6.6 months of imports and the repayment of all foreign government debts due.Such a positive development in the external sector has fundamentally contributed to the strengthening of the rupiah, particularly since the second half of 2009. A World Bank Economist, Timothy Bulman, said that Indonesia's economy has returned back on track following a period of lower growth last year due to the global economic crisis, a local media reported here on Friday.

Tomothy said that the country's economy is almost ready to return to the boom conditions prior to the 1998 financial crisis, when the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth often reached between 7 to 8 percent. According to Timothy, besides investments, Indonesia is ready for and needs breakthrough like easing transport and logistic bottlenecks and connecting Indonesia's domestic market to the region's

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa said on Friday that the country had extended operation period at four main sea ports following the implementation of the ASEAN-China free trade on Jan. 1.

More imports have been predicted to flow in Indonesia which has huge domestic market with over 230 million people, but, with soaring global demands and prices of exports from emerging markets, it is predicted that the country's exports would rise.

Further Indonesian diplomacy should aim to attract more foreign investment to help reach economic growth of 7 percent in 2014, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono told around 200 Indonesian envoys.

• Brunei

SABAH economic and business planners have expressed interest in forming alliances with Brunei in the halal business in a bid to strengthen trade ties.

• Vietnam

Disbursement of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam could rise 10 percent to between $10 billion and $11 billion this year, thanks to the global economic recovery, a government minister was quoted as saying. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung Friday said there are grounds to predict Vietnam’s economy will expand around 7 percent this year.

Vietnam has launched its first dispute at the World Trade Organization with a case against US anti-dumping measures on its key exports of shrimp.

The communist state only joined the global trade arbiter three years ago, and its economy like China's has benefited strongly from membership in the world trading system and its rules.

The trade dispute with the United States not only has symbolic significance, given the two countries' war that ended 35 years ago, but defends a product that brought in some US$1.5 billion in exports last year.

• Philippine

Spending on May elections and rebuilding work after last year's deadly typhoons are likely to boost the Philippines' economy this year above the official growth forecast, a senior official said Friday.

• Malaysia

Consumers in Malaysia believe the recession is over and look towards the future with renewed confidence, according to market research firm InsightAsia.

Its Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) for Malaysia rose by 16 points to 112 in the fourth quarter of 2009, lifting the figure above the neutral point of 100 for the first time last year.

Malaysia’s exports rebounded in December, climbing the most in 17 months amid a global economic recovery that led the government to predict higher overseas sales this year.

At Social Front

• Indonesia

The government said it would ask Indonesia to lift an eight-month ban on sending maids to work in Malaysia, but would not increase salaries by as much requested by Jakarta, a news report said Monday.

Human Resources Minister S Subramaniam said a meeting between labour officials of the two countries this month could end the ban, adding that the outstanding issue was salaries for Indonesian maids.

The new anti-pornography law in Indonesia has caused fear among minorities and secularists.A recent arrest in the Indonesian city of Bandung over a nightclub show has caused the more liberal members of Indonesian society to speak out over the event, in which four women were arrested for dancing in their underwear. They say the law, promoted by Islamic conservatives to outlaw materials or actions raising feelings of lust, could be used to ban cultural paintings, traditional dances and Hindu temple carvings.The rights groups have suggested the anti-pornography law is part of a push by some Islamic parties for sharia, or Islamic law.

• Malaysia

Malaysia's charismatic opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is in the dock again on sodomy charges in a suit that threatens to reverse the startling revival in his political career.

• Cambodia

Cambodia plans to draft a new law in a bid to stop the growing number of attacks in which jealous wives, vengeful businessmen and others have hurled acid at their rivals, a government official said Thursday.

The Cambodian government said on Monday that more than 10,000 ducks have died and some 30,000 others are being sick in the country's southern province of Takeo.

He said that those dead ducks were reported happening a few days ago and now some 30,000 others are being sick.Kao Phal said while sample testing is being examined, he could not tell what the cause to the deaths of the ducks was.

At environmental front

• Thailand

Thailand has been told it needs to build a massive sea wall to prevent massive damage from land subsidence and rising sea waters.