An entourage of business delegates from Switzerland, led by Swiss President Doris Leuthard, met with Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu in Jakarta on Tuesday, where Mari expressed the need to rebalance bilateral trade between the two countries.
Mari said the value of the bilateral trade had been continuously growing for years, but that Indonesia was constantly at a deficit.
Indonesia exports oil, garments, shoes, electronics, furniture, palm oil, tin and coffee to Switzerland and imports spare-parts for power plant machinery, pharmaceutical and chemical products, cosmetics and materials for making dies from Switzerland.
The two-way trade between the two countries steadily increased from US$450.64 million in 2005 to $983.87 million in 2008 before falling back to $621.48 million in 2009, while Indonesia’s trade deficit with Switzerland declined from $190.53 million in 2005 to $140.15 million in 2008 before increasing to $259.2 million in 2009.
The two-way trade continued to fall to $154.15 million in the first quarter of this year from $171.05 million in the same period of 2009, while Indonesia’s trade deficit with Switzerland increased to $57.77 million from $54.58 million.
“We will discuss how to reduce trade barriers to balance the trade between our countries,” Mari said, adding that trade between Indonesia and Switzerland could be improved further.
Switzerland offers tax facilities for many Indonesian products, such as industrial and agricultural products, under a Generalized System of Preferences.
Many Indonesian exporters have benefited from the facilities in their cooperation with Swiss importers by, among others, completing requirements for certificates of origin issued by the Trade Ministry.
Mari said the government would facilitate the sharing of Swiss innovation and technological expertise for the improvement of the Indonesian manufacturing sector’s competitiveness in the global market.
“We should gain innovation and technological expertise from Switzerland, one of the most competitive economies in the world,” she said.
Meanwhile, Leuthard said that there were several ways to improve competitiveness, such as opening the domestic market for competitors.
She said Switzerland was committed to strengthening the competitiveness of the Indonesian industry in part because the latter was an important partner in Southeast Asia.
“Our comprehensive partnership gives a framework for technical cooperation to increase the Indonesian capacity,” she said.
Some sectors prioritized by Swiss investors include food processing, chemical and pharmaceutical industries, shipping and forwarding, plantations, hotels, tap water processing, and engineering.
According to the Trade Ministry, 75 Swiss companies are operating in Indonesia, employing 59,415 people. They include ABB, Bobst, Ciba, Clariant, Colenco, Credit Suisse, Danzas, DKSH, Egon Zehnder, Firmenich, Givaudan, Nestle, Novartis, Panalpina, Roche, Holcim, Sika, Sulzer, Swiss Airlines, UBS, Villiger Tobacco and Zurich Insurance Societe. (ebf)
