Indonesia Business Forum held during visit by Indonesian President

On March 24, welcoming Indonesian President Joko Widodo, JETRO held the Indonesia Business Forum in Tokyo together with the Embassy of Indonesia in Japan. The visit by the president, his first to Japan since taking office last October, drew considerable interest and attracted more than 1000 people to the forum. In his greeting on behalf of the organizer at the beginning, JETRO Chairman and CEO Hiroyuki Ishige expressed his expectations for both Indonesia and Japan to develop a stronger sense of unity and together became better able to sustain their economic growth thanks to the benefits provided by President Joko's strong leadership. This was followed by welcoming remarks from former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Chairman of the Japan-Indonesia Association, who touched on the friendly relations between the two countries and said that as increased cooperation and sharing of experience from Japan can contribute to Indonesia's future development, both sides must utilize the president's visit as a catalyst to further develop their strategic partnership.

In the keynote address for the forum, President Joko personally introduced topics based on the government's five-year plan, such as the target of raising the GDP growth rate to 7% in the future and a scheme to help disperse locations of foreign investment, which has until now remained heavily concentrated on the island of Java, by preparing industrial zones suitable to each region of the country. He also gave a clear and concrete explanation of his vision to shift Indonesia away from its reliance on exports of natural resources and raw materials alone, such as—to use an example from the fishery industry—by increasing exports of value-added products like canned goods. President Joko emphasized the need to invite investment from Japan so as to take advantage of Japan's abundant experience particularly in fields of growing interest like infrastructure for highways, railroads and ports. At the same time, he made clear that reforms are also being conducted to address any issues in the investment environment, as evidenced by the commencement of Indonesia's one-stop service for investment approval which began this January.

A related consulting desk on investing in Indonesia was also held on location, where 36 Japanese companies considering investment into the country were able to receive advice directly from experts of both the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board and JETRO.

The Joko administration has set forth four key policies: "expanding exports", "attracting inward direct investment by overseas companies", "promoting regional development" and "establishing an oceanic state". To contribute to these policies, JETRO has formulated a five-year cooperation plan package with Indonesia. JETRO Chairman Ishige proposed this package to the president in person during the face-to-face meeting with him.

Prior to this meeting, JETRO concluded memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with the Ministry for Trade of Indonesia and the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). Through these MOUs, the parties will help enhance the ties between Indonesia and Japan in the fields of trade and investment that constitute the above package.