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Australia vows to rekindle business ties with Indonesia
A setback in investment that can be traced back to the 1998 monetary crisis was exacerbated by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Canberra.
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (right) speaks with Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (left) on July 4, 2023, in front of the Opera House and city skyline in Sydney, Australia. (AFP/Lisa Maree Williams)
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ustralia aims to reinvigorate its business ties with Indonesia in response to a noticeable decline in engagement by Australian investors, according to the Indonesia Australia Business Council (IABC).
IABC deputy secretary general Peter Fanning stated in a media briefing on Friday that the setback in foreign direct investment (FDI) could be traced back to the 1998 monetary crisis and had been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that the Indonesia Australia Business Conference, usually an annual event, had not been held in 2020 and 2021.
Fanning lamented that, while Indonesians might not be well informed about Australia, Australians often expressed contentment with their domestic circumstances despite the business opportunities offered by Indonesia’s robust spending power and vast population.
“Having been absent for many years, Australia is making concerted efforts to regain lost ground,” he said. “We are also earnestly working to reignite interest and partnership [between the two countries].”
The business conference, scheduled to take place in Jakarta from Nov. 7 to 9, will serve to unite Australian businesses and investors interested in Indonesia, fostering discussion and collaboration for joint ventures and investments with a focus on opportunities within the country, Fanning added.
The IABC and the Australia Indonesia Business Council (AIBC) as its counterpart traditionally alternate hosting the business conferences on a yearly basis, but because of the pandemic disruption, this year’s event will be the first in Indonesia since a 2019 conference in Bali.
