VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesia and Switzerland discussed various issues ranging from solutions to global supply chain problems to palm oil on February 24, 2022. This was stated in the 9th Session of the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETC) of the two countries. The Meeting is a routine bilateral consultation mechanism in the economic and trade fields between Indonesia and Switzerland which has been taking place since 2010.

Head of Bilateral Economic Relations for Asia and Oceania at the Swiss Ministry of Economy, Fabienne Wassermann, said that Swiss shipping companies are ready to provide assistance to overcome global supply chain and logistics problems in Indonesia, by opening direct shipping lines from Indonesia to export destination countries.

As quoted from the kemlu.go.id page (25/2) regarding palm oil, the Director General of America and Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Ambassador Ngurah Swajaya, who led the Indonesian Delegation, hoped that the Swiss Government would soon receive  the  certification  of the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil – ISPO  which is s one of the four certifications that have been recognized in the palm oil Ordinance in Switzerland. According to him, to make this happen, Switzerland is committed to helping increase the capacity of Indonesian small-scale farmers, through the 2021-2024 development cooperation scheme.

In addition, Ngurah Swajaya welcomed the planned visit of the Swiss Minister of Economy, Education and Research, Guy Parmelin along with a business delegation to Indonesia in March 2022. Ngurah Swajaya said he would convey concrete cooperation which is expected to be achieved during the visit of the Minister and the Swiss delegation to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, considering that Switzerland is one of the leading countries in the healthcare sector, the Indonesian Ambassador to Switzerland in Bern, Muliaman Hadad, also invited Swiss pharmaceutical and medical device industry players to develop their portfolio in Indonesia.

Besides being attended by delegates from both governments, the 9th Session of the Joint Commission on Economic and Trade between Indonesia and Switzerland was also attended by Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shinta Kamdani, and several businessmen. In the dialogue session between business actors, Indonesia offered an opportunity to increase exports of cocoa products to meet the needs of the global Swiss chocolate industry. Meanwhile, a consortium of Swiss companies has shown interest in a number of infrastructure projects in Indonesia, including to develop the new National Capital.

The economic performance of Indonesia and Switzerland continues to show improvement even in the midst of the pandemic. Swiss investment in Indonesia in 2021 will quadruple to US$576.3 million, from previously US$130.9 million in 2020. This figure has even exceeded the investment value in the pre-pandemic period. In the last three years (2019-2021), Indonesia continued to record a surplus in the trade balance with Switzerland