The two countries have set a higher target at US$50 billion for trade and investment each by 2025, an increase from 2017’s trade realization of $18.23 billion and investment realization of $286.6 million.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce Industry (Kadin) deputy chairwoman for international relations Shinta Widjaja Kamdani said so far the two countries’ business cooperation covered six sectors: mining, infrastructure, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, the digital economy and services.

“So far, what we have achieved is pretty good. However, it’s still far from optimal as there are still many untouchable opportunities. We strongly believe there are still sectors with huge potential and that we can optimize further,” she said on Friday.

However, Shinta said there were challenges that still inhibited economic cooperation from growing faster, and there was still a lot to be done despite the achievements.

One recent issue is the increase of the import duty imposed on crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivative products from Indonesia to India, which led to the declining competitiveness of Indonesia’s main export product to India. In addition to CPO, other commodities have also experienced high import duty such as coffee, rubber and essential oils.

Aside from tariffs, another challenge is the difficulty for Indonesia-India business players to find a business partner suitable reaching each other.

To identify more opportunities that the countries can tap further and help in addressing several issues, Kadin in collaboration with the Indian Embassy launched the India Bilateral Committee of Kadin on Friday.

The committee will be a platform for Kadin and the Indian Chamber of Commerce to work together in improving bilateral business cooperations between the two countries.

“The committee will have several roles, such as identifying sectors that can be maximized further, business matchmaking and assisting local and Indian business players interested in establishing or expanding businesses in Indonesia,” she said.

Another crucial role of the committee is working together to discuss obstacles that hampered business cooperation and give related recommendations or suggestions for governments of two countries on what the best solution is to deal with the challenges.

“In tariff policy, for example, we will help Indonesia negotiate a better tariff policy and give suggestions to the government on what to do to deal with the problem,” she said.

Indian Ambassador to Indonesia Pradeep Kumar Rawat hoped the committee could be a platform for better information sharing related to business between the two countries.

“I hope India can give more relevant information and input, and let us know about the latest business updates and about India’s current opportunities and priorities to Indonesia,” he said.

Indonesia and India have been enjoying a very close business relationship for years. Both countries benefit from each other. For Indonesia, India is the biggest palm oil importer and one of Indonesia’s main export destinations for several commodities such as coal, natural rubber and pulp and paper.

Meanwhile, Indonesia’s main import commodities from India are cyclic hydrocarbons, ground nuts, frozen beef, rolled stainless steel products and synthetic organic colorants.

Industry and business players hope the establishment of the India Bilateral Committee can truly help them solve several challenges that they face.

Publicly listed pharmaceutical company Kalbe Farma, for example, hopes it can help the company find a way to open the door for export opportunity and investment.

Kalbe Farma president commissioner Irawaty Setiady said, during the 20-year business relationship with India, Kalbe Farma has been importing raw material from India. Now the company is also eyeing export of finished products, such as nutritional goods, to them. Unfortunately, the high import duty has been deterring them from entering the Indian market.

“I hope they can help in finding a way for our finished products to enter the Indian market,” she said on Friday.

“We’re also trying to find investment partners in India that want to build a raw material production center here in Indonesia. But it’s difficult to find the right partner as we do not know where to go. So we hope the committee could help in finding a way to address the issue,” she added.

According to Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data, Indonesian-Indian trade reached $12.9 billion in 2016, with Indonesian exports standing at $10.2 billion and Indonesian imports at $2.1 billion. Trade volume increased by 28.7 percent in 2017, with Indonesian exports standing at $14.08 billion and imports at $4.05 billion.

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