Economy & Business

Australia Welcomes Indonesia’s Investment Policy
Thursday, 21 April, 2005 | 14:03 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Denpasar, Bali:The Australian government welcomes the economic policy of the new Indonesian government to create a friendly investment climate.

This provides hope for an increase both in exports as well as investment to Indonesia.

“During 2004 alone, trade from the goods and services sectors were worth AUS$ 8.5 billion,” said Australian trade minister Hon Mark Vaile at a press conference held by the Indonesia-Australia Business Council Conference (IABCC) at the Conrad Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday (18/04).

This value will continue to increase more and more bearing in mind that some 400 Australian companies have invested in Indonesia.

The IABCC came as a follow up to the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Partnership signed by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister John Howard sometime ago.

Ministers of both countries will discuss extending cooperation and possibilities for investment and trade in other sectors, such as the agribusiness and automotive sectors.

According to Vaile, the meeting was a sign of progress for both Indonesian and Australian companies despite ups and downs between both countries’ foreign politics.

He went on to say that the economic sector would strengthen the relationship between both countries.

The sector that was mostly discussed during the IABCC meeting was the agricultural produce market.

“For the agribusiness sector, there will be much exchange of beneficial information,” stated Vaile.

According to him, Indonesia is a good market for agricultural products so the investment climate must be made more attractive to Australian investors.

In regard to this, Indonesian trade minister Marie Elka Pangestu said that she would review the export-import tariff policy to and from Australia.

“There will be new calculations made under several considerations. This is why the conference will be held,” said Pangestu.

All this, she said, was to accommodate various interests of the two neighboring countries.

Therefore, the two countries are to discuss items on international trade cooperation in line with the interests of two countries.

These items will be adjusted with regional trade cooperation regulations, such as ASEAN and APEC.
Discussions regarding the possibility of establishing ASEAN-ANZ-FTA regional cooperation will also become the focus of the IABCC.

“Everything is still in the form of software. But, we hope that this is a good step for economic cooperation between Indonesia and Australia,” said Pangestu. (Rilla Nugraheni-Tempo News Room)