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Jokowi asks UK to lower import tariff on RI products
AFPPresident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo asked British Prime Minister David Cameron to lower import tariff on Indonesian products during a meeting between the two leaders at presidential palace in Jakarta on Monday
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AFP
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo asked British Prime Minister David Cameron to lower import tariff on Indonesian products during a meeting between the two leaders at presidential palace in Jakarta on Monday.
"The lower tariff needed on Indonesian prime products like wood, clothing, coffee and fisheries," Jokowi said after the meeting, saying that he hoped Britain would continue boost investment in Indonesia.
The president offered investments in ports, toll roads, railways construction projects as well as in energy sector.
"Last year British investment increased by 34.5 percent. Of course we appreciate that," Jokowi said as quoted by tempo.co.
Indonesia is Cameron's first stop of a four-day trade mission to Southeast Asia on Monday, looking to seal US$1.2 billion in trade deals and push for greater cooperation in the fight against the Islamic State group.
Cameron was accompanied by 30 British business leaders and his minister of state for trade Francis Maude, before he heads to Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia.
After meeting Jokowi, he said Indonesia could "benefit from British expertise", and referred to engineering and energy companies that could help with the president's plans to build more infrastructure, and to top British universities.
Before his arrival Cameron also announced Britain was making £1 billion ($ 1.5 billion) in loans available to Indonesia to help finance infrastructure projects.
Accompanying him are senior figures from prominent British businesses including aircraft engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce and construction equipment maker JCB.
Cameron also said the he and Jokowi had agreed to step up efforts to combat the "evil threat" posed by IS.
Hundreds of young Britons have joined IS in Syria and Iraq, sparking fears they could launch attacks on home soil upon their return, while Indonesia fears up to 500 of its citizens have been lured to the Middle East by the jihadists.
"We've agreed to step up our joint efforts both to tackle the terrorist threat and to counter the extremist narrative," he said in a joint statement with Jokowi, adding IS was a "shared enemy".
Cameron said Britain would provide support for counter-terrorism efforts in Indonesia, which is the world's most populous Muslim-majority country and has long struggled with Islamic extremism.
Measures will include helping to improve security at airports, enhanced cooperation on terrorism investigations and the training of Indonesian police officers in Britain, he said.
A potentially sensitive subject during the visit to Indonesia was the plight of a British grandmother on death row in Indonesia for drug smuggling, but Cameron made no mention of the subject during the press statement. --AFP (+++)
