VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, on Tuesday, met with Mayor of Shanghai, Gong Zheng, to discuss potential cooperation in the trade, investment, tourism, and halal industry sectors.

"Today, I met with the Mayor of Shanghai. We consider Shanghai as the 'gateway' of bilateral trade relations between Indonesia and China. It is also a center of trade, financial industry, automotive industry, and others," he remarked at a press conference in Shanghai, China.

The vice president and the mayor spent half an hour during the meeting held at the Xijiao Conference Center in Xijiao State Hotel.

"Due to Shanghai's crucial role, I pushed the city to make even greater investments (in Indonesia)," he remarked, adding that several business actors from Shanghai had made investments of significant value, including in Morowali District, Central Sulawesi Province.

The VP also made the most of the meeting to urge Mayor Gong to encourage more of his citizens to visit tourist destinations in Indonesia.

"They are also interested in the tourism sector. He (Mayor Gong) said that Indonesia has an appealing tourism sector," he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai Mayor affirmed that both Indonesia and Shanghai have broad market reach that can be optimized to bolster trade ties between the two parties.

"Regarding cooperation in the halal industry, I have just found out that Indonesia has a potential halal market value of US$135 billion. I will extend this information to the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce," he remarked.

Furthermore, Mayor Gong, who formerly served as governor of Shandong, revealed that his government is currently making efforts to transform Shanghai into a global modern and influential city, in line with the instruction of President of China Xi Jinping.

"In recent years, Shanghai has been witnessing its competitive increases. Last year, the city's gross domestic product had reached CN¥4.47 trillion, or US$600 billion, thus affirming its position as China's biggest economic center and fifth in the world," he noted.

He further remarked that Shanghai is currently developing an international center for monetary and trade while noting that the volume of containers coming in and out at the Port of Shanghai has been the largest in the world for 13 years.

Moreover, Shanghai recorded a total trade volume of CN¥10.4 trillion (approximately US$1.425 trillion) last year, Gong stated.

The mayor also affirmed that Indonesia and China are two friendly countries that share similar dreams. Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Chinese President Xi Jinping have been leading their countries to further improve bilateral relations, he remarked.

"China has been Indonesia's largest partner in trade for the past 10 years. During a meeting with President Jokowi in Chengdu, President Xi Jinping emphasized China's readiness to bolster strategic cooperation with Indonesia," Gong stated.

During the meeting with Gong, VP Amin was accompanied by Ambassador to China and Mongolia Djauhari Oratmangun, Acting Consul General in Shanghai Faramela, Head of the Vice Presidential Secretariat Ahmad Erani Yustika, and several officials from the secretariat.

Meanwhile, Ma Chunlei, Deputy Secretary General of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Secretary General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, among others, also attended the meeting to accompany Mayor Gong.

The meeting with the Shanghai mayor concluded the vice president's six-day working visit to China, where he met with several high-ranking Chinese officials, including Prime Minister Li Qiang, to discuss bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including high-speed trains and electric vehicles. (antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia must produce its own industrial machines to bolster the national industry's competitiveness and self-reliance, Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said on Tuesday.

"Domestic industry players still tend to rely on imports (of capital goods). Indonesia should start building its capability in manufacturing machines," he added at the 'Topping-Off Ceremony' of the Indonesia Manufacturing Center (IMC) in Purwakarta, West Java province.

According to data, during the January–July period this year, the value of Indonesia's capital goods imports reached US$22.45 billion, accounting for 17.5 percent of the total value of national imports.

Meanwhile, the value of its raw material imports was recorded at US$93.97 billion, or 73.25 percent of national imports, during the same period.

"I have visited factories and facilities to check their products. When asked about the TKDN (domestic content level), they said 50 percent. However, none of them used domestically manufactured machines. All machines were imported," he pointed out.

The minister expressed the hope that the IMC will help the government implement the import substitution program by improving the technological mastery of industry players, including small and medium industries.

Penta Helix collaboration between related actors and institutions, including the government, universities, public and private research institutions, entrepreneurs, and communities, is required to lead Indonesia toward more competitive technological mastery, he said.

Minister Kartasasmita then emphasized the importance of institutionalizing the IMC and equipping it with proper facilities and infrastructure.

The IMC, which has been under construction since December 2022, will offer several services related to industrial product development and capacity-building activities for industrial workers, among other things.

Furthermore, the IMC is also expected to help stakeholders establish a cooperation network.

According to Minister Kartasasmita, the government is developing the IMC to implement the Intensification of Domestic Product Utilization (P3DN) program.

"We are targeting to reach TKDN of 71.39 percent for goods and services to achieve the goal of P3DN," he said.

To construct the manufacturing center, the government is empowering the local workforce and utilizing materials produced in Purwakarta.

At the ceremony, the minister lauded the constructors for developing the IMC by complying with the Green Building standards set by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing. (antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesia and China need to share knowledge and exchange information related to agricultural technology, chief of the Presidential Staff (KSP), Moeldoko, has said.

He delivered the statement here on Tuesday while sending off the Indonesian Farmers' Association's (HKTI's) women farmers delegation and representatives from the Chinese Indonesian Association (INTI) for the China-ASEAN Youngpreneurs event in China.

"We need to explore and learn from each other about the development of agricultural technology, especially to (anticipate) the food crisis that is not only a problem in our country, but also the world," he said.

Moeldoko, who is also the chairperson of HKTI, underlined that the diversification of staples needs to be carried out considering that weather phenomena such as El Nino are causing drought in several regions.

"There are many other sources of carbohydrates (other than rice). I recommend that women farmers focus on corn and cassava commodities; these two ingredients can be a substitute for rice," he said.

The delegation of young Indonesians who have realized the huge potential of agribusiness in Indonesia can erase the paradigm that the current youth do not care about the agricultural sector, he added.

"I support young Indonesians who have the ambition to develop Indonesian agriculture, so that in the future, Indonesia will be more advanced in the agricultural sector," he said.

Meanwhile, the chair of HKTI Women Farmers, Dian Novita, said that her side decided to send a delegation of young Indonesians to China because of China's status as Indonesia's largest trading partner, including in the agricultural industry.

"The main goal is that we want to help Indonesian farmers and agribusiness players to penetrate the market easily because the problem is in the supply chain, and we want to innovate there," Novita informed.

On the occasion, HKTI and INTI also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on business matching with Chinese investors. (Antaranews)

VOINews, Jakarta - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin and Second Lady Wury arrived back in Indonesia on Tuesday evening after a six-day working visit to China.

At the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, VP Amin and his entourage were seen off by a number of officials, including the Indonesian Ambassador to China, Djauhari Oratmangun; Indonesian acting consul general in Shanghai, Faramela; and the Indonesian defense attaché in Beijing, Benny Poltak Nadeak.

According to a statement received here, the VP landed at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, Banten province, at 7:10 p.m. Western Indonesian Standard Time (12:10 p.m. GMT), after an almost six-hour flight.

Acting governor of Banten, Al Muktabar, and officials from the Regional Leadership Communication Forum of Banten province received the Vice President at the airport.

Upon their arrival, VP Amin and his spouse immediately headed to the vice presidential residence to rest and prepare for their upcoming official agendas.

Amin embarked on his China visit on Thursday (September 14, 2023). His visit covered three cities, namely Fuzhou, Nanning, and Shanghai.

During the visit, he met with several high-ranking Chinese officials, including the Prime Minister of China, Li Qiang, in Nanning city, Guangxi province. He also delivered the opening remarks for the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and the 20th China-ASEAN Business Investment Summit (CABIS) in Nanning city.

Furthermore, the VP got the opportunity to meet with major business actors from China and discuss ways to bolster trade and investment cooperation between Indonesia and China with a special focus on the halal product industry.

VP Amin concluded his six-day visit with a meeting with the Mayor of Shanghai, Gong Zheng, to discuss potential cooperation in the trade, investment, tourism, and halal industry sectors.

Head of the Vice Presidential Secretariat, Ahmad Erani Yustika, and Foreign Affairs Ministry's director general of protocol and consular affairs, Andy Rachmianto, were among the officials who accompanied the Vice President during the visit. (Antaranews)