The Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Indonesian Employers Association will hold a 2023 Indonesia-Europe Business Forum on October 17 to 18, 2023, in Ritz Carlton Hotel, Mega Kuningan, Jakarta.
Umar Hadi, the Foreign Ministry’s director general for America and Europe, said that the business forum will be attended by 350 companies from Indonesia and 76 companies and businessmen from 25 European nations. “
The number of participant continue to increase as those businessmen show their interest,” he said on October 11, 2023.
Hadi said that the business forum will focus on five priority sectors including machine and electronic components, creative industry, energy transition, digital economy, and health infrastructure. “In this forum we will give a real space for Indonesia and Europe businessmen to do business matching, business deal . They have conducted several online meeting previously,” he added.
Hadi also said that different from previous event, the Indonesia-Europe Business Forum will unite businessmen and companies from European Union, Central Europe and East Europe because they have similar potentials.
For examples in the sector of motorcycle components industry, Indonesian products can penetrate into other bigger European market through Poland. “At the end, the product enter into European Market. So we decide to unite them all. Because at the end the products enter into single European Union markets,” he explained.
The Indonesia-Europe Business Forum will be held in parallel with the the Indonesia-Latin America and Caribbean Business Forum and Trade Expo at the same location. Foreign Ministry’s decision to cooperate with Latin America businessmen because the region is Europe traditional market.
“Who knows that there will a triangle between the Indonesia and the two regions so our products can enter into Latin America through Spain.” he explained, adding that last year, Latin America trade balance to Europe is US$ 40 billion or 10% of the world trade. European Union is the third largest economy in the world.
In the last 10 to 20 years, said Hadi, new economic power have been growing in Europe including Poland. Twenty years ago, Poland is a developing nation. Currently, the country is the most growing economy in Europe.
Opportunity
Shinta Kamdani, Deputy Chairman of Maritime, Investment and Foreign Business Sector At Indonesia Chambers of Commerce said the business opportunity with European nations is huge because European nation is one of the biggest Indonesia Foreign Direct Investment with 32.3 % of the Indonesia total FDI come from the European developed nations. While the total investment of European nations in ASEAN countries worth US$ 24 billions.
The biggest investment potential from European region is in the investment with sustainability dimension. The European countries have European Fund for Sustainable Development a promising potential to mobilize European Union investment outbound worth half trillion Euro between 2021 to 2027 to various countries including developing countries.
In order to fill the financing gap of sustainable development or sustainable financing gap, the deployment of the fund is applied in the form of guarantee from European Investment Bank and financial institution worth €26,7 billion, financing guarantee for investment in renewable energy sector, green infrastructure, health, and sectoral guarantee assistances especially in transportation, renewable energy, digital sectors and lending facility in the form of grant and loan for non-bankable investment project financing in the European Union partners countries.
At the same time, the European Union and the region of Europe generally expand their screening mechanism for outbound of European Fund For Sustainable Development. The screenings are European Union screening regulation and foreign subsidiary regulation especially in relation with Russia -Ukraine conflict and the ownership of technology and assets transfer.
Kamdani said that Indonesian products that can be exported to European markets are palm oil products, pulp and papers, automotive components, steel, shrimps, communication equipment, and plywood, among other products.
During the Indonesia-Europe Business Forum, several memorandum of understandings will be signed including the construction of meat processing plants, lightning for Indonesia new capital, and several others business agreements with Lithuania, Denmark etc.
