[Kabar-indonesia] Thirteen Indonesian lawmakers to visit Brazil

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, August 5, 2006

Thirteen lawmakers to visit Brazil

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Some 13 members of the legislation body of the House of Representatives will 
leave Sunday for Brazil for seven days to study the legislation process in the 
country.

The legislation body's deputy head, Pataniari Siahaan, said Friday that 
legislators needed as much information as possible on preparing bills in various 
sectors, including energy and mineral resources, regional autonomy, elections 
and border security.

"We now have 500 bills to be passed on our list. This year alone, we have to 
finish 70 bills. National and legislative problems in Brazil are similar to 
ours. That's why it is important to study Brazil's system," Pataniari told The 
Jakarta Post during a lunch with Brazilian Ambassador to Indonesia Edmundo 
Sussumu Fujita at the ambassador's residence in South Jakarta.

During the lunch the lawmakers briefed Ambassador Fujita on the planned visit 
while the ambassador shared information on Brazil's culture and customs.

Pataniari, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that 
the lawmakers could learn about Brazil's legislation in the energy sector 
because the country was known for its alternative energy, such as bio-ethanol.

"In areas such as relations between regional administrations and the central 
government, Brazil is very advanced. There is no news of separatist movements 
among the regional administrations while Brazil has managed to get out of the 
debt trap and slowly return to normalcy," Pataniari said.

The lawmakers plan to meet with the Brazil's lawmakers and high-ranking 
government officials before returning to Jakarta on Aug. 13.

Fujita welcomed the planned visit, saying that the visit would strengthen 
relations between the two countries.

"It is good that lawmakers can see for themselves what happens in Brazil. Our 
lawmakers can also come to Indonesia," he said.

Fujita proposed that the lawmakers discuss with their counterparts in Brazil 
the possibility of establishing an inter-parliamentary group between the two 
countries to foster closer ties.

Currently, economic ties between Indonesia and South American countries are 
still very weak. Total trade between Indonesia and the 12 countries with which 
Indonesia has diplomatic relations in the region reached US$1.8 billion in 
2005, according to the Foreign Ministry. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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