EU-Indonesia Business Dialogue

Oxford Business Group is pleased to announce our media partnership with the EU-Indonesia Business Dialogue, which will be held on 29-30 November 2010, in Jakarta, Indonesia. In this respect, we send you the following message from the conference organisers:

Dear Oxford Business Group subscribers,
Europe and Indonesia: exploring new ventures

Indonesia and Europe look back on decades of close and profitable business relations. Despite the geographical distances, European companies have been engaged as investors in a broad range of sectors. Indonesian companies on the other side have been successful in exporting not only commodities to Europe, like in previous days, but serve European markets with high-quality manufactured goods. In short, the European Union and Indonesia have substantial and impressive economic ties: Two-way trade is close to US$28 billion per year, with Europe being the biggest investor in Indonesia, outperforming its Asian competitors.

However, European business actors and governments are now seeing that Indonesia, with its unmatched scale and diversity in Southeast Asia, its strong growth trajectory and its comprehensive reform program, has much greater potential as a partner for European investors and traders. The strengths of the Indonesian economy are now coming to the fore:

• Indonesia’s economy continued to grow during the global economic crisis and could record more than 7 percent annual growth in the coming years. Indonesia is by far the biggest economy in Southeast Asia – four times bigger than the Philippines, three times bigger than Malaysia and twice as big as Thailand.

• Indonesia mines a variety of raw materials and commodities. In the last three years, foreign investment rose dramatically in these sectors, but there is need for modern, environmentally friendly technologies and investment goods.

• Indonesia is starting to tap the potential of its regional connectivity, and has the potential to be a new hub based on multiple FTA`s, providing access to a market of 1.9 billion consumers.

• More than US$ 140 billion in investment in infrastructure is required to meet the demand of new ports, airports, roads, power, and drinking water. The government has funds to cover a part of these investment needs, but invites the private sector to participate in the new opportunities for infrastructure development.

European companies have the know-how and the technology that Indonesia needs to make the next step forward. Indonesian companies on the other side have access to the regional markets of ASEAN. The recent Free Trade Agreement signed by the ASEAN countries enable Indonesian companies to easily access further Asian-Pacific markets, such as Japan, Australia, Korea and China, with India being in the making. Many Indonesian private companies already dispose of a tremendous export-related expertise, being able to offer quality and international standard products at a competitive price. Hence, the business relations between Europe and Indonesia are highly complementary. Nevertheless, European actors are facing stiff competition in Indonesia as the assets of the country are well-known among the Asian countries. Indonesia on the other side is exposed to the rising attractiveness of its neighboring countries as an investment destination for European capital. This sets the frame for a new dialogue forum working consistently on emerging opportunities in trade and investment, the EU-Indonesia Business Dialogue (EIBD).

New business forum between Europe and Indonesia explores potentials EIBD has been launched in late 2009 as an initiative of the European Union and the Government of Indonesia. They invited the respective private sectors to directly feed into a government-to-government driven process aiming to identify new areas of economic cooperation. This year’s EIBD in Jakarta is supported by the Indonesian Ministry of Trade and the European Union. Organizers are the National Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) as well as the five European Business Chambers in Indonesia. They started in early 2010 working in altogether nine working groups on sector and cross-sectoral aspects which will be the basis for the EIBD Conference.

During the EIBD Conference, CEO’s of Indonesian companies will meet high-level representatives of European companies to discuss strategic co-operation, which could include joint production, joint development for the Indonesian, wider Asian and European markets, and the realization of new projects in Indonesia. European business leaders have a unique opportunity to evaluate the potential of the Indonesian market and to speak with industry leaders at first hand. The EIBD will highlight cross-sectoral topics, such as emerging issues for growth, physical infrastructure and service industries. It will also break out into sector-focused B2B meetings, offering good market opportunities for both sides. The sectors to be covered are: Medical & Pharmaceutical; Textiles, Apparel & Footwear, Infrastructure, Automotive & Machinery, Food & Beverage.

EIBD Conference will be hold in Jakarta on November 28-30, 2010, in the run-up to five international expositions for key manufacturing sectors, ‘Manufacturing Indonesia’. More information about the conference, including program details and registration, are available at www.eibd-conference.com