CAIRO: A delegation led by Aburizal Bakrie, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare in Indonesia, has discussed investment opportunities in Egypt, specifically in rock phosphate. "We need the phosphate for fertilizer, Bakrie told The Daily Star Egypt. The minister's visit centered on different facets of development; discussions were held on child labor, drugs, HIV and domestic violence with ambassador Khattab. Bakrie said "the most important thing we feel is poverty, child labor comes from poverty. Discussions on debt swap were also held. Debt swap is a concept where a creditor will buy a portion of a country's debt in return for the debtor country making a commitment in investing local currency in specified programs. "It (debt swap) is important for developing countries as the money is already there. The success of Egypt [in this area is] $800 million, while only $200 million for Indonesia, the minister said. Bakrie also talked about Indonesia's experience with subsidy cutting and recommended that Egypt follow suit, though stressed that every country has its own conditions. "Targeted subsidy is the most important thing, to protect the poor, he said, 'we explained ho Indonesia increased the price of fuel by 185%. There are no adverse effects because out of the savings [gained], 30% were used on free education and free health services. Egypt's WFP Country Director Bishow B. Parajuli believes Indonesia s economic experience could come in handy in helping to reforming the subsidy program in Egypt. This is vital, he said, because it reduces the fiscal burden and allows these [freed] funds to empower the poor. Of the WFP's role in developing countries Bakrie said "The WFP has the expertise and contacts, and because of their networking they have experience. They also fight poverty, and have done so in Indonesia. The WFP has launched a new program in Egypt with the onset of 2007 aiming to support 400,000 Egyptians. [The program] has many facets, nutritional support (school lunches) and flower fortification ... also for the landless poor, empowering them to deal with the government. We are working with the government to improve the efficiency of nutrition. For the Indonesian model, Bakrie stated that since 1998 they have initiated the peoples' empowerment program in 38,000 villages. The program was so successful that enough infrastructures were put in place to create 250 jobs per village according to the minister. "Infrastructure in villages should not be done by contractors. Teach the villagers to make a plan and implement it. The money goes directly to the village. Bakrie has a business background and chaired the Indonesian chamber of commerce for a decade. He told The Daily Star Egypt "I know the needs of the micro-business. If we empower the village people, they can help themselves. With micro-credit they are able to. There will be a bilateral meeting between Egypt and Indonesia in Jakarta on April 2. Prior to this a high level global conference will be held in Jakarta later this month to tackle the issue of avian flu. "Egypt and Indonesia can cooperate in many bigger things, economically and politically, Bakrie said.
