Mr. Ambassador, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press, Members of Dana Mitra Lingkungan and IATPI.

It is indeed an honor and pleasure to announce to you this morning the partnerships between US-AEP and Dana Mitra Lingkungan and IATPI. These partnerships are part of a greater U.S. commitment to assisting Indonesia maintain social services to revitalize its economy.

USAID is committing more than US$150 million to this effort this year, focusing on economic recovery; support for the social safety net--including health, food and jobs; sustainable environmental and natural resource management; and civic and community participation.

We support the United States-Asia Environmental Partnership and its efforts to improve the urban environment by increasing industrial efficiency and reducing pollution, by improving urban infrastructure for clean water, and by targeting conversion of waste products to more efficient and productive use.

Established in 1992 as a presidential initiative, the US-AEP is a U.S. government interagency program, led by USAID, and working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It is active in 11 Asian countries promoting environmentally sound economic growth.

Here in Indonesia, US-AEP is encouraging long-term sustainable partnerships between Indonesian and U.S. organizations to strengthen the institutional and technical capacity of local organizations working on industrial and urban environmental issues. US-AEP has been active in Indonesia since 1992.

Through the signing of the Memoranda of Understanding, US-AEP is committing three quarters of a million dollars to two pilot activities that will create and strengthen partnerships between DML in Indonesia and the U.S. National Pollution Prevention Roundtable and IATPI in Indonesia and the Water Environmental Federation in the United States. The partnerships aim at improving the operating efficiency of small and medium industry in Indonesia at a time when they are under particular stress. In so doing, we hope to contribute to the creation and protection of jobs as part of our overall effort to support Indonesia�s social safety net.

The partnership with DML will work with industries to improve their efficiency, to create and maintain jobs, and to contribute to Indonesia�s economic recovery by assisting manufacturers that export products to improve their production efficiency to become more competitive in the international market.

The partnership with IATPI will contribute to on-going efforts between USAID and the PDAM Rescue Team at Persatuan PDAM Seluruh Indonesia (PERPAMSI) to identify those PDAMs which have the more urgent need for water quality assistance, which are in greatest need of assistance, and which service the largest populations. IATPI will provide advice on the technical means to maintain the flow and quality of clean water to users at an affordable rate.