Indonesia aims to strengthen trade ties with the Philippines

CEBU, Philippines - While the government of the Republic of Indonesia now takes aggressive steps to strengthen its trade ties with the Philippines, it picked out Cebu as one of its focuses.

Recently, the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Philippines Kristiarto S. Legowo together with other officials of the Indonesian government was here in Cebu to formalize its move to further build-up the economic cooperation between the two countries.

“We know that Cebu has a lot to offer, and will become the large contributor in this economic cooperation. We have to mutually increase volume trade between the two countries,” said Legowo in an interview.

In cooperation with the Department of Trade and Industry Cebu Provincial Office (DTI-CPO), the Indonesian officials presented their country’s economic status and future plans, as well as invites Cebu business community to fortify trade linkages with Indonesian traders.

Likewise, the Ambassador said that since Cebu is one of the fastest growing economies in the Philippines, more Indonesian investors are eyeing to invest in Cebu, in partnership with local businessmen, specifically in the real estate sector.

Initially, Legowo had an informal talk with leaders of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) to express Indonesia’s interest to partner with Cebu-based businessmen.

Since both countries have similar regulations on investors not owning lands, the interest in real estate investments from both countries need to adopt the joint venture concept.

While Indonesia is largely considered as “competition” of the Philippines, since both countries produce similar products to the world market, such as furniture, agriculture, among others, the Ambassador said that there a lot of opportunities that can be taken advantage by both.

For Filipino businessmen, he said investment in fishery, tuna canning, among others are just few of the sectors that provide good investment opportunity for Filipinos to invest in Indonesia.

From January to November last year, balance of trade between both countries reached to more than US$2.3 billion, in favor of Indonesia.

“We export a lot of natural resources to the Philippines, like coal, oil. Likewise, the Philippines is exporting semi-conductor products to Indonesia,” he said adding that this trade exchange should be boosted further through strengthening the trade ties between the two governments, and the private sector players.

The economy of Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia and one of the emerging market economies of the world (it is a member of the G-20 major economies). 

Indonesia’s economy grew by 6.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, above forecast, bringing full-year 2010 GDP growth to 6.1 percent, owing to strong domestic consumption and investment.

We believe there are so many untapped opportunities for trade, tourism and investments between our two countries,” the Ambassador said. (FREEMAN)