Ukraine to bolster diplomatic presence in countries of booming Asian region (04/27/97)

Ukraine to bolster diplomatic presence in countries of booming Asian region

by Michael Bociurkiw
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Ukraine plans to upgrade its diplomatic presence in the fast-growing Asian region, starting with a new embassy in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

The Jakarta post comes after a highly successful visit last year by Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma to Indonesia during which a number of diplomatic, trade and investment deals were signed. Aside from Indonesia and Vietnam, Ukraine has no other diplomatic posts in the seven-state Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which unites Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam. Elsewhere in Asia, diplomatic posts have been established in China, Japan and India.

Taiwan has courted Ukraine - even sending Vice-President Lien Chan to Kyiv last year - but Kyiv is not expected to establish any diplomatic presence on the island because of its stringent one-China policy. Tourists and business executives alike have found the lack of Ukrainian consular posts in Asia a frustration, especially for obtaining Ukrainian visas.

A better Ukrainian consular presence in ASEAN would also benefit visiting Ukrainian nationals. Tourism, especially to Thailand, is growing rapidly with several charter services headed to Bangkok and southern beach destinations.

At a recent conference on contemporary Ukraine in Ottawa, Andrij Vesselovsky, deputy director of the Policy, Analysis and Planning Department of Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry, said the Asia-Pacific region ranks as an important foreign policy area for Kyiv. "We have adopted a gradual approach for this region," he said. "In Asia there is a lack of understanding of what Ukraine wants and what we can produce."

While Ukraine would like to have a better diplomatic representation in the region, it faces budgetary constraints. "We are not prepared to do much more as of today," he said.

Ukraine has only 350 diplomats. This is a significant increase, however, from the corps of 35 from six years ago, Mr. Vesselovsky said. He added that in Ukraine there appeared to be a somewhat passive attitude toward doing business with the booming Asian region. "We have to convince local people to go," he noted.

One of the Asian countries most active in Ukraine is South Korea. Last year Daewoo and Lucky Goldstar entered competitions to supply Ukraine with telecommunications networks and equipment. While no accurate trade and investment figures are available, Ukraine has not figured prominently in Asian markets.

Even in the defense arena - which has been aggressively pursued by the Russian Federation - for example, Russia has sold MiG fighters to Malaysia and India - Ukraine has had limited success. However, it has managed to send delegations and exhibits to most major defense and aviation exhibitions.

In 1994 ASEAN member-countries collectively spent $137 billion (U.S.) on defense.

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