Vol. 490 No. 5
103 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the discussions between the Minister of State and the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Ali Alatas, during the recent ASEM conference in London; if the issue of trade between Ireland and Indonesia was raised. [10570/98]
Deputies will be aware that I was unable to attend the ASEM II summit in London from 2 to 4 April on account of the need to be present in Belfast for the closing sessions of the multiparty talks on the future of Northern Ireland. I was, however, represented in London by the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Tom Kitt.
On my behalf, Minister of State Kitt took part in a bilateral meeting on 2 April with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, who was also attending the summit in London. I have already referred to this meeting in my statement to the Dáil on 23 April on the outcome of the ASEM II summit. As I mentioned on that occasion, the Minister of State raised with Mr Alatas the distressing human rights situation in East Timor and the effects of the Asian financial crisis on the Indonesian economy. Much of the meeting was in fact devoted to the question of East Timor and to the deep concern felt in Ireland at developments there. The Minister of State expressed Ireland's support for the continuation of the Intra-Timorese dialogue and our willingness to host a meeting of the dialogue in this country should the parties involved so desire; reference was also made to the excellent work of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy to East Timor, Ambassador Jamsheed Marker.
In addition, the Minister of State took advantage of the meeting to express his desire that trade and other economic relations with Indonesia should be encouraged to develop; he made reference in this regard to the consultancy work being carried out by the ESB as well as to the operations of other Irish companies in Indonesia.
