VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian textile and rice have grabbed the attention of Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous territory, which has invited Indonesia to develop the region’s tourism sector, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita noted in a statement here on Wednesday.

Lukita held bilateral meetings with four ministers from African nations on Tuesday (Aug 20) on the sidelines of the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue (IAID) held in Nusa Dua, Bali.

The minister reaffirmed that the government will make sustained, consistent efforts to open access to non-traditional markets, especially in Africa.

"At the meeting, Indonesia and Zanzibar agreed to conduct an evaluation to identify challenges and opportunities for bilateral trade and investment," the minister remarked.

At the meeting with the Djibouti trade minister, he elaborated that both nations have agreed to start a joint feasibility study to serve as a basis to determine the form of the trade agreement, be it a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), Free Trade Agreement (FTA), or Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

The four ministers of African nations are Industry, Trade, and Investment Minister of Tanzania's special autonomous region of Zanzibar Amina Saloum Ali; Djibouti Trade Minister Hassan Houmed; Somalia Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing Minister Abdi Adam Hoosow; and Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Eastern Africa Community of Uganda A. M. Kirunda Kivejinja.

The total trade value between Indonesia and Tanzania had reached US$334.70 million in 2018, wherein Indonesia had enjoyed an import surplus of $263.20 million during the period and imports were valued at $71.50 million.

Indonesia's main export products to Tanzania include palm oil, women's garments, paper and cardboard, and mineral processing machines, while Indonesia chiefly imports cloves, cotton, unprocessed tobacco, and copper from Tanzania.

Indonesia has recorded $211.46 million worth of total trade in 2018 with Djibouti, with Indonesia's exports reaching $211.45 million and imports at $4 thousand.

"The total trade value is still far below the expectation, so we still have a wide opportunity to increase bilateral trade. Djibouti needs various products for its infrastructure development," Lukita pointed out.

Soap, palm oil, paper and cardboard, notebooks, and margarine are among the products exported to Djibouti, while infant clothing and accessories are imported from Djibouti.

Lukita highlighted the significance of cooperation with Djibouti, taking into account its position as a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

COMESA groups 21 nations in the eastern and southern Africa.

In the meantime, at the meeting with Somalia, both nations have agreed to boost business-to-business cooperation through business forums and business matching.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said that Indonesia and Africa could become a huge power if they are united through concrete cooperation to boost the welfare of the peoples.

"Indonesia is ready and pleased to forge cooperation with our brothers in Africa. Indonesia is your true partner, your trusted friend," Jokowi said in his opening remarks during the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialog (IAID) held in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Tuesday afternoon.

He said the peoples of Indonesia and Africa are brothers, particularly developed through struggles against colonialism, which led to the organization of the Asia-Africa Conference (AAC) initiated by Indonesia's first President Soekarno, among others, 64 years ago.

He pledged that his administration would focus its diplomacy on Africa particularly through concrete cooperation in the economic field.

The implementation of the 2019 IAID in Bali on Aug 20-21 is a follow up of the Indonesia-Africa Forum (AF) held in 2018, to strengthen the brotherhood between Indonesia and Africa.

Indonesia and Africa must work hard to turn uncertainty into certainty, to face the trade war, to promote economic transparency and integrity, and to confront narrow nationalism with global solidarity and multilateralism.

The President also encouraged equal and mutual beneficial partnership, among other things through South-South Cooperation.

"There is only one key that enables us to survive global turmoil, namely unity," Jokowi said.

Themed "Connecting for Prosperity", the 2019 IAID is participated in by 700 people from 53 countries.

The first ever Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF) held on April10-11, 2018 in Bali, Indonesia. has paved new avenues for economic cooperation. IAF resulted in concrete economic cooperation amounting to USD586,56 million of business deals in sectors of strategic industries, infrastructure, financing, mining, textile, aircraft maintenance and trade in commodities. Infrastructure was one of the most highlighted issues in the forum, as both Indonesia and Africa regards this sector as a high priority for future development.

According to the Global Infrastructure Outlook from Global Infrastructure Hub, the investment needs for various infrastructure projects in Africa from 2016 to 2040 amounts to USD6 trillion, equaling to 5.9 percent of GDP dedicated to infrastructure within this period. Meanwhile, Indonesia has projected the need of USD1.7 trillion in the same period.

The Indonesian Government is committed on the infrastructure development of the country by allocating its national expenditure up to Rp415 trillion or USD28 billion for infrastructure in 2019. Compared to 2015, the budget in 2019 receives an increase of 61.6 percent, according to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Trade Ministry has outlined a target for the value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and the United States to reach US$50 billion in the coming several years.

"Last year, the value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and the United States had reached US$29 billion. We have agreed to increase the bilateral trade target to US$50 billion," Kasan, head of the Trade Development and Study Department of the Trade Ministry, noted Jakarta on Tuesday.

The Trade Ministry has applied export strategies by establishing a trade agreement with major trade partner countries and new potential nations.

Indonesia has also targeted to realize bilateral trade worth US$50 billion with India by 2025 and US$30 billion with South Korea by 2022.

The Trade Ministry stepping up trade targets is expected to help intensify bilateral trade with its key trade partners.

President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had earlier ordered several ministers and institution heads to make policy breakthroughs in the fields of investment and exports.

He reiterated that exports and investment are the keys to addressing trade balance and current account balance deficits.

The president is optimistic of the policies on investment and exports leading to concrete actions that can be implemented. (ANTARA)

Indonesia’s government targets a 5.3-percent economic growth in 2020 by boosting consumption and investment while maintaining the inflation rate at 3.1 percent, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated here, on Friday. The head of state made the remark in his annual state budget speech, a day before the commemoration of the Independence Day, at the legislative complex in Jakarta.

The growth target and inflation rate were among the four assumptions of the country’s macroeconomy in 2020.

In his state budget speech on the 2020 fiscal year, the president also forecast that amid the global economic slowdown, the rupiah exchange rate stood at Rp14,400 against the US dollar.

Despite the slowdown, the Indonesian government remains confident of the interest rate of three-month treasury bills (SPN) lying at 5.4 percent, while the Indonesian crude price (ICP) being at US$65 per barrel.

“In the midst of global dynamics, the Indonesian government will closely monitor the crude price and global commodity prices,” he stated.

During his speech, Jokowi also noted that the government has targeted to set oil lifting at 734 thousand barrels and1.19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD) in 2020.

In line with last year’s state budget speech, Jokowi has targeted economic growth to reach 5.3 percent in 2019, while the inflation rate was maintained at 3.5 percent, give or take one percent. (ANTARA)