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Jakarta Post

Partnership with Japan can boost RI industry

Japan-Indonesia business: Japan-Indonesia Economic Committee (Keidanren) chairman Shigeo Oyagi (left), Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong (second left), Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) chairman Hiroyuki Ishige chat during the opening of the Indonesia-Japan Business, Trade & Investment Symposium at the Fairmont hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday

Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, November 25, 2015

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Partnership with Japan can boost RI industry Japan-Indonesia business: Japan-Indonesia Economic Committee (Keidanren) chairman Shigeo Oyagi (left), Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong (second left), Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) chairman Hiroyuki Ishige chat during the opening of the Indonesia-Japan Business, Trade & Investment Symposium at the Fairmont hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday. The event was organized by JETRO to discuss current investment between the two countries.(JP/Jerry Adiguna) (Keidanren) chairman Shigeo Oyagi (left), Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong (second left), Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) chairman Hiroyuki Ishige chat during the opening of the Indonesia-Japan Business, Trade & Investment Symposium at the Fairmont hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday. The event was organized by JETRO to discuss current investment between the two countries.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)

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span class="inline inline-center">Japan-Indonesia business: Japan-Indonesia Economic Committee (Keidanren) chairman Shigeo Oyagi (left), Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Lembong (second left), Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) chairman Hiroyuki Ishige chat during the opening of the Indonesia-Japan Business, Trade & Investment Symposium at the Fairmont hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday. The event was organized by JETRO to discuss current investment between the two countries.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Indonesia can strengthen its industrial structure and increase the quality of its economic growth through a strong partnership with Japan, officials have said.

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) vice president Yuri Sato said on Tuesday that the East Asian country could offer its experiences and established global networks to help Indonesia build its manufacturing to offset low export revenues caused by plummeting commodity prices.

'€œJapan'€™s government and businesspeople can assist Indonesian companies to diversify exports and improve productivity through transfer of knowledge and technology,'€ she said during the Indonesia-Japan Business, Trade and Investment Partnership Symposium in South Jakarta.

The symposium was attended by, among others, Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong, Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Motoo Hayashi and Japan-Indonesia Parliamentary League chairman Toshihiro Nikai.

Sato added that the current sluggish economic situation was a '€œblessing in disguise'€ for Southeast Asia'€™s largest economy as its only solution was to change its export structure, which currently depends mostly on unprocessed commodities, to concentrate more on manufactured products.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that primary commodities '€” such as crude palm oil (CPO) and rubber '€” make up the largest part of the country'€™s export portfolio worth US$121.8 million, around 14 percent of non-oil and gas commodity values, as of October.

Sato said that Indonesia had fundamental advantages that could ensure a sustainable economic growth and attract investments, such as a large population, a so-called demographic bonus, a stable political situation and abundant natural resources.

Meanwhile, JETRO chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige said that his office intended to actively work with the Indonesian government to boost exports and encourage investment exchanges to integrate the region'€™s economies.

'€œSeveral problems have happened around the high-speed train project, but we are still cooperating to strengthen competitiveness in industry, infrastructure and human resources development,'€ he said.

Japan and China were in a heated competition to win the nation'€™s first-ever high-speed rail project, connecting Jakarta with Bandung in West Java. The government eventually chose China to build the link.

Nevertheless, a meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday signaled that both countries intended to continue cooperating. Jokowi said after the meeting that Indonesia would engage with Japan in future infrastructure projects, in addition to maintaining existing investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and industry.

Minister Thomas stated that currently the government was loosening its protectionist economic policies, which hampered industrial growth and worsened the country'€™s economic situation.

'€œOpenness is important and it can facilitate the integration of Indonesia'€™s economy into the region,'€ he said, hailing Abe'€™s economic policy as bold, assertive and reformist.

Meanwhile, Minister Hayashi expressed hope that Indonesia'€™s and Japan'€™s relationship could be stronger and mutually beneficial in both ASEAN and globally.

'€œIn this global economic uncertainty, it is important for Indonesia'€™s and Japan'€™s partnership to expand further and jack up the global economy,'€ he said.

Japan is Indonesia'€™s number one export market. Export values booked last year amounted to $23.1 billion, 13.1 percent of the value of Indonesia'€™s total exports. Japan is Indonesia'€™s number three importer, bringing in goods and services worth $17 billion, 9.5 percent of total imports.
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