"I hope that the IJ-JEF would increase economic, trade and investment cooperation..."Tokyo (ANTARA News) - Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa is currently on a visit to Japan to identify and seek solutions to problems being faced in investment, trade and economic cooperation between Indonesia and Japan.
Rajasa said here on Monday that he was leading an Indonesian delegation including Industry Minister MS Hidayat, Indonesian Ambassador Muhammad Lutfi and officials from various ministries and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), as well as Indonesian business players.
The Indonesian delegation will discuss the strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries at the Fourth Indonesia-Japan Joint Economic Forum (IJ-JEF).
"I hope that the IJ-JEF would increase economic, trade and investment cooperation between Japan and Indonesia," Rajasa said.
The Indonesian delegation was received by the Japanese Minister of Economy Trade and Industry, Yukio Edano and KEIDANREN chairman Yonekura.
The forum is also expected to serve as a means of identifying and seeking solutions to emerging economic, trade and investment problems while implementing cooperative measures between both nations, according to the minister.
He added that the forum would also discuss economic constraints being faced by Japanese businessmen in Indonesia, particularly in the fields of taxation, customs, human resources, export-import procedures, investment in the energy sector and MPA incentives.
"We will hold dialogues on the infrastructure development progress, strengthen connectivity and other issues regarding the law on mineral, coal and geothermal energies," he said.
He went on to say that the volume of Indonesia-Japan trade in the January - July 2012 period accounted for US$32.50 billion or an increase of 6.35 percent compared to the same period in 2011, amounting to US$30.56 billion.
Japan`s total investment in Indonesia in 2011 stood at US$1.5 billion with 468 projects.
"I am very happy with the first three months of this year because Japan has made an investment of US$2.86 billion through 870 projects in Indonesia," the minister said.
He added that the Indonesian government had at present conducted a routine consultation meeting with the Japanese embassy in Jakarta involving Japanese businesses grouped in the Jakarta-Japan Club. The dialog was known as the High Level Consultation on Investment, Promotion and Technical Committee Metropolitan Priority Area.
On the same occasion, Japan's minister of Economy Trade and Industry, Yukio Edano, said that the forum was important and significant for increasing both nations` economic cooperation.
"I am convinced that this forum is very important and significant in increasing bilateral relations of Japan and Indonesia. Through this forum, we can exchange experience in the fields of trade, energy, human resources and minerals and can figure out concrete steps for improvement," the Japanese minister said
(A014/INE/KR-BSR/O001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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