TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and South Korean President Park Geun-hye, has agreed to partner up to boost investment in the industrial sector during President Jokowi's state visit to South Korea, where he was received by President Geun-hye at Cheong Wa Dae Palace in Seoul, South Korea on May 16, 2016.
President Jokowi said that the volume and value of investment between both countries in the past two years have been quite significant - despite the fact that both value and volume were higher in 2014, where it amounted to US$22.47 billion, whereas in 2015, it went down to US$16.7 billion.
As such, President Jokowi wants both countries to continue cooperating to increase both trade value and volumes. "One of the ways through which this could be achieved, is by eliminating tariff barriers," stated the President, through a released received by Tempo on Monday, May 16, 2016.
South Korean investments in Indonesia has continued to increase - in 2014, the total amount of South Korean investment in Indonesia amounted to US$1.12 billion, whereas in 2015, it rose to US$1,21 billion. "We need to realise that there is a potential here - a possibility of having South Korea as our strategic partner to accelerate the growth of our industrial sector," stated the President, especially in the steel production, creative industries, and the maritime sector.
President Jokowi also South Korea is the perfect partner for Indonesia to help jumpstart the growth of Indonesian creative industries - through increased cooperation in capacity building, technology transfer, co-branding, as well as co-production programs - as the President wants Indonesia to be known as the largest digital economy in Southeast Asia by 2020.
Meanwhile, cooperation in the maritime sector will be focused around the enforcement of regulations relating to unreported and unregulated illegal fishing, as well as the fish processing. Furthermore, the President hopes that both countries could agree to renew cooperation relating to the placement of Indonesian ship crews in South Korea. "I will personally task the Minister of Manpower to immediately work out a deal with his South Korean counterpart," said Jokowi.
ADITYA BUDIMAN
