President Joko Widodo responded positively to the idea.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The government of Hong Kong plans to open a representative office in Jakarta to support cooperation in various fields such as investment, trade, tourism, creative economy and education.

"The issue of opening the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in Jakarta came up in the latest meeting," said the Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau, Chalief Akbar, who accompanied Hong Kongs Chief Administrator C.Y. Leung in the meeting with President Joko Widodo at the Merdeka Palace here on Thursday.

President Joko Widodo responded positively to the idea, he said.

"The Presidents response is very positive and he hopes that with the establishment of such an office, it would be possible to have even better cooperation between the two sides, especially in the fields of trade and investment," he said.

Chalief said the Trade Office would function just like a consulate or the Hong Kong representative office in Indonesia.

He said the government of Hong Kong would formulate a template for cooperation since it receives 60 million tourists every year, mostly from the mainland.

"Around 50 percent of the tourists are from mainland China. Usually when they come to Hong Kong from Shanghai or Guangdong, they also go to a third country," he said.

There would be no problem in the opening of such an office because Indonesia has visa-free agreements with Hong Kong as well as China.

The fact that there are many direct flights from Hong Kong to Indonesia through Jakarta, Bali or Surabaya, would also facilitate the move.

"There are around 15 to 20 flights connecting the two countries. So, the supporting factors are there and therefore, opening the office will not be a problem," Chalief remarked.

He said the reason why Hong Kong has decided to open such an office in Indonesia was the fact that the countrys economy was considered as booming.

"So far, Hong Kong has only 11 such offices in the world and the one being opened in Indonesia will be the 12th. Clearly, they have indeed been very selective in choosing partners and opening offices in other countries," he said.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015