Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, has said that Australia’s total foreign direct investment (FDI) in Indonesia reached USD 545.2-million in 2023, a rise of 4-percent, according to reporting from Antara News.
“Australia has been and will always be an important partner for Indonesia,” he said, ranking 10th out of the 168-countries investing in Indonesia.
As part of his working visit to Australia on Monday, Hartarto also met with Indonesian and Australian business actors in a Business Dialogue and Reception, where he conveyed the vision of the Indonesian economy in 2045 as a high-income country in the next two decades.
According to Hartarto, strengthened cross-border economic integration plays an important role in the strategy. This is why Indonesia has begun to open accession discussions with the Organization for Economics and Economic Development (OECD) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CP-TPP) says Antara News.
CP-TPP will accelerate the agreement with the European Union and is actively involved in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
CP-TPP is a trade agreement between 11-countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam, according to Antara News.
“These instruments will provide a comprehensive roadmap to increase quality investment and export-driven growth and will open up cooperation and market access to large economic blocks,” the minister said.
On the same occasion, Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Penny Williams, also noted that Indonesia and Australia would continue to intensify bilateral relations in various sectors.
Antara News report that Williams stated that Australia will provide support for Indonesia’s membership in the OECD and CP-TPP and will collaborate with related institutions as a follow-up to the Indonesia-Cambodia Electric Vehicles memorandum of understanding (MoU).
“This year will mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Australia, and both countries are committed to improving bilateral relations in various sectors,” she said.
During the meeting, Hartarto also encouraged stronger collaboration in important sectors, especially in the energy value chain and sustainable agriculture, electric vehicles and technology manufacturing, education, and utilization of maritime resource potential, including the development of Indonesia’s new capital (IKN Nusantara) mega project, say Antara News.
Source: Antara News
Stock image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay