"I am very optimistic that cooperation between Indonesia and China will continue to grow, supported by our governments policies," Kalla said in the opening speech of the Indonesia-China Business Summit 2018.
During the summit which was also attended by 300 Indonesian businessmen, Kalla said that one of the efforts to improve trade cooperation is by increasing the export quotas of palm oil and electronic component products from Indonesia to China.
The export from Indonesia is an attempt to fill the void of China`s import quota from the United States, when the two countries are involved in such a "trade war". The export value of Indonesian electronic components to China reached US$4 billion, which is equivalent to the export value of biodiesel.
The total volume of Indonesia-China trade has reached US$65 billion. It is expected to continue to increase after the bilateral meeting, which was part of Chinese PM`s scheduled activities during his visit to Jakarta.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Rosan P. Roeslani said that the bilateral meeting is a great opportunity to attract more Chinese investment in the US$4-8 trillion initiative.
"China is an important partner to improve our national economy. China`s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to connect Europe to Southeast Asia by developing infrastructure projects, provides tremendous opportunities especially for its neighboring countries," he said.
China is considered as Indonesia`s key investment partner, which can help the country anticipate the rise of middle class in 2025, he added.
"With the current global conditions, attracting foreign investment will be more difficult, so we need to find key partners and focus on getting closer to them," Roeslani said.
Kadin`s vice chairman of International Relations Division Shinta W. Kamdani also said that Indonesia should be able to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Belt and Road Initiative.
One of the focus is the development of the northern part of Indonesia that can serve as a bridge to Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific.
"In addition to proactively offering investment projects, we must also equip ourselves by continuing to carry out comprehensive structural economic reforms, from eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic processes, setting up licensing and tax systems as well as improving basic infrastructure," she pointed out.
The Chinese government, she continued, also plans to help poverty alleviation programs through cooperation with local entrepreneurs. Kadin Indonesia will establish a special task force to follow up on the matter.
The Indonesia-China Business Summit is expected to bring the trade relations and investment of both countries to a higher level.
Since the agreement on Indonesia-China strategic and comprehensive partnership five years ago, China has been emerged as Indonesia`s largest trading partner with total trade value reached US$58.8 billion in 2017.
Still in 2017, China was also the third largest investor in Indonesia with a total investment of US$3.3 billion in 1,977 projects.
Investment from China is one of the most significant increase in the last three years in which in 2015 their investment was recorded only US$1 billion US dollars, then in 2016 raised to US$2.6 billion.
Reported by Fransiska Ninditya
(T.Y013/A/KR-BSR/A/H-YH)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
