TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Stronger RI-EU relations will boost trade in 'win-win scenario'
Indonesia and the European Union (EU) have complimentary economies in which a deepened trade relationship between the two entities will increase trade overall in a âwin-winâ scenario, instead of causing a surge in imports, a European Council top envoy has said
Change Size
I
ndonesia and the European Union (EU) have complimentary economies in which a deepened trade relationship between the two entities will increase trade overall in a 'win-win' scenario, instead of causing a surge in imports, a European Council top envoy has said.
European Council president Herman Van Rompuy said that according to a recent study, a comprehensive economic agreement between the EU and Indonesia would boost their overall trade and facilitate more foreign direct investment (FDI) from the EU.
This in turn would contribute to the development of a diversified and higher value-added economy and help develop Indonesia into the manufacturing hub of ASEAN.
'My message here is that European companies stand ready to increase their already considerable investments in Indonesia, provided that the business climate is welcoming, open and transparent,' Van Rompuy said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He made the comments during the opening of the fifth Europe-Indonesia Business Dialogue today.
Van Rompuy said such a situation was very much in line with the vision President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo expressed when they met at the Presidential Office on Wednesday.
He said that during the meeting President Jokowi expressed a vision of an Indonesia that could deliver better jobs and living standards for its people.
'The ASEAN Economic Community should act as a catalyst for such change in Indonesia. Deeper economic relations with the EU would complement such a process and in fact help attract significant EU investment, technology and know-how,' said Van Rompuy in his speech, which was made available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
He praised the contributions by European companies active across a wide range of sectors in Indonesia. In spite of all these successes, the full potential of what European business had to offer in Indonesia had not yet been realized, he added.
'The EU's trade with Indonesia is healthy, yet it is well below our trade with other smaller countries in the region, such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. This is despite the fact that Indonesia is by far the largest economy in ASEAN representing around 40 percent of total ASEAN GDP and population. We can do better,' said Van Rompuy.
Citing official data, he said Indonesia received only 12 percent of all EU investments flowing into the ASEAN region and only 0.4 percent of total FDI outflows from the EU to the world in 2011 during the period of 2004 to 2011.
'We need to change that together too,' said Van Rompuy.
'Deepening trade and investment links with the world's largest trading bloc ' the EU ' will bring substantial gains to Indonesia,' he went on. (ebf)(+++)
