"As usual, there will be MoUs between business people (of the two countries) regarding business forum. I do not know how many; but in fact, the largest US investment in Indonesia is energy," Kalla said at his office here on Tuesday.
After visiting South Korea and Japan, Pence is scheduled to visit Indonesia from April 20 to 21, 2017, in a bid to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries, according to spokesperson of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Arrmanatha Nasir.
Kalla's statement is in line with the business meeting invitation issued by the US embassy received here on Monday that Kalla and Pence would witness the MoUs signing of US companies in the fields of energy and information technology, including General Electric (GE), Applied Materials (AMAT), Lockhead Martin, Honeywell, and Greenbelt Waste Resources.
In addition, Kalla, better known as JK, will further discuss about the plan of US oil and gas firm to be involved in the project of Indonesia Deepwater Development (IDD).
"Yes, and indeed, we require the energy sector, because it needs a big capital and high technology. We have talked about its preliminary matters regarding Natuna, IDD in Chevron, and others," he disclosed.
Kalla and Pence have been scheduled to witness the signing of the MoUs after opening the US and Indonesian business meeting at the Shangrila hotel on April 21.
Earlier, on April 20, Pence will pay a courtesy call to President Joko Widodo at the Merdeka Palace and hold bilateral meeting with Kalla at the Vice President Palace in Jakarta.
Additionally, Pence was also slated to visit Jakarta's Istiqlal Grand Mosque and meet the ASEAN secretary general pertaining to the 40th anniversary of US-ASEAN relations.
Apart from that, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita informed Antara here on Monday (April 4) that the government has been closely monitoring the implications of the US trade policy following President Donald Trump's executive order to investigate the trade imbalance between the US and some partner countries.
Indonesia will continue to monitor the US trade policy, while evaluating commodities exported to the country, Lukita pointed out.
"We will monitor it and wait for further moves. Meanwhile, we are evaluating commodities that were exported to the US and whether they would potentially be questioned," Lukita stated.
Trump has issued an executive order to investigate the trade imbalance between the US and 16 countries, including Indonesia, and to reject their imports.
The investigation order covers data on the US trade that recorded a deficit of US$500 billion, of which some $300 billion were contributed by its trade with China.
The US trade deficit with Indonesia had reached $8.84 billion in 2016. The main commodities shipped to the US were mostly footwear, textiles, fishery products, and natural resources, while the US had exported aircraft, soybean, and machinery.
Among the countries that contributed to the trade deficit are China, Japan, Germany, Mexico, Ireland, Vietnam, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, India, Thailand, France, Switzerland, Taiwan, Canada, and Indonesia.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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