JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia is looking to attract more direct investment from China over the coming years. The country, a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations trading bloc (ASEAN), hopes the move will help to narrow a gap in bilateral trade that has been widening in recent years.
“The trade volume between Indonesia and China has seen remarkable growth during the past five years, and to better help us access the Chinese market and increase our exports, we hope Chinese businesses will increase their investment in Indonesia,” Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu told China Daily.
According to China’s General Administration of Customs, the volume of trade between the two countries reached $42.75 billion last year, a 50.6 percent increase year-on-year from 2009. Meanwhile, cooperation in areas such as culture and education has also increased significantly.
The countries have agreed to increase the volume of bilateral trade to $80 billion by 2015. Meanwhile, China will increase investment in Indonesia in fields such as clean energy and electricity generation.