The Indonesian government decided not to include the discussion on a debt moratorium for Indonesia in the agenda of the international emergency relief summit on Jan.6, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said.
However, the minister said that the government would not reject any offers that might come from the donors countries to discuss it, reported the Jakarta Post daily on Wednesday.
"The debt moratorium will not be discussed in the coming summit, but if some countries would like to bring it up, we would welcome it," Hassan said following a limited cabinet meeting to discuss the preparations for the summit at the State Palace.
The Indonesian government expects to secure pledges from international donors at the summit for the rehabilitation of provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra, which were hit hard by an earthquake and tsunamis that followed on Dec. 26, 2004.
Indonesia would spend at least 10 trillion rupiah (US$1.07 billion) for reconstruction in the provinces over the next five years.
Elsewhere, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the government would welcome any debt rescheduling offers, and had asked the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) to look into which debts could be rescheduled.
The vice president further said the government should take the initiative to pursuit the offer from donor countries to support relief efforts in Aceh province.
Some 26 countries as well as international organizations have agreed to attend Thursday's emergency meeting, which will discuss various rehabilitation programs for the affected countries as well as an early warning system in the region to prevent a repeat of such a calamity.
(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2005)
