President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said Indonesia is ready to cooperate with countries in Africa in the face of the global trade war, as Indonesia seeks new opportunities to expand its trade and investment portfolio in new markets.

Jokowi officially opened the 2019 Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue (IAID) in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday.

“The heated trade war and global economic crisis, conflicts between countries, [and] development gaps have caused uncertainty. Indonesia and Africa must agree to strengthen solidarity to improve the region and the world. We have to work hard to turn uncertainty into certainty,” he said in his opening speech, as quoted from a press statement.

Having started early last year, the ongoing trade war has seen China and the United States impose sanctions and tariffs on each other. It has caused a slump in Southeast Asian exports, economists have said. Bloomberg reported that the region’s economic growth was seen weakening to 4.8 percent this year and 4.7 percent in 2020 from 5.3 percent last year, according to Oxford’s lead Asia economist Sian Fenner. Africa, meanwhile, has been largely ignored in the US-China trade war.

Indonesia, Jokowi said, was a true friend of African countries and stood ready to become a partner to improve the welfare of African people by building infrastructure and boosting trade on the continent.

“Indonesia is ready to share experiences and help to build infrastructure. Indonesian [state-owned companies] and private companies have sufficient strength and experience,” he said.

The two-day 2019 IAID was attended by around 700 business leaders, policymakers, senior government officials and ministers, as well as other stakeholders from Indonesia and Africa. The participants discussed concrete efforts that could be made to improve economic diplomacy, connectivity, social infrastructure and tourism, energy and mining, financing schemes, as well as trade and development cooperation.

Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, who is also the chair of the Indonesia-Africa infrastructure development task force, held a series of bilateral meetings with several African countries, including Equatorial Guinea and Madagascar, as well as with a representative from the African Union on Tuesday.

This year, Indonesia and African countries signed dozens of business deals valued at US$822 million on infrastructure, textiles, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, financing, mining, transportation and commodity trading, a significant increase from last year’s deals worth $586 million, according to Luhut’s office.

Indonesia has also launched negotiations for preferential trade agreements with Mauritius and Djibouti.

Indonesia’s economic ties with African nations continue to see significant progress. Trade value between Indonesia and Africa reached more than Rp 156 trillion ($11.06 billion) last year, a 25 percent increase from the previous year. More Indonesian companies have now entered Africa, with around 30 Indonesian companies investing in Africa, including 16 in Nigeria and five in Ethiopia.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the two-day IAID is a follow up to the Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) in 2018 — both events provide strategic platforms for better cooperation between Indonesia and Africa, especially on infrastructure.

“Different from the past, the Foreign Ministry is now handling not only foreign policy, but also economic diplomacy. And in carrying out economic diplomacy, we involve technical ministries and even state-owned enterprises in a comprehensive mission,” Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said.

The event was concluded on Wednesday with Indonesia reiterating its commitment to initiating dialogues with Africa.

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