The United Kingdom and Indonesia held their third Partnership Forum on 7 April in Jakarta, at which the two countries pledged to increase bilateral trade and boost cooperation in many sectors.
Economy and trade was one of the key topics of discussion at the forum, which also included cooperation in health and vaccines, security, international law, climate and environment, and multilateral and regional issues.
In economy and trade, the UK and Indonesia pledged to realise the potential growth of bilateral trade through the upcoming signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) between Indonesia’s Minister of Trade and the UK Secretary of State for International Trade. The JETCO will aim to deepen bilateral trade, boost cooperation, and discuss market barriers in areas such as renewable and green energy, and food and drink and agricultural commodities, the Foreign Office said.
The countries also welcomed the UK’s proposal to discuss a new agreement to facilitate trade by the UK’s official export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), which could support the Indonesian Government with highly competitive long-term finance, of up to £4 billion, in the delivery of its development objectives.
The UK and Indonesia also decided to cooperate in digital technology and increase copyrights management capacity.
The countries shared a commitment to realising investment potential, which saw 35-percent growth of UK investment into Indonesia in 2020, following the reforms to improve ease of investing and doing business in Indonesia introduced by the Omnibus Law 2020.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said while on a visit to Indonesia and Brunei-Darussalam that he and his Indonesian counterpart “agreed to expand UK relations with Indonesia – bilaterally & in ASEAN. Alongside Indonesia’s support for our bid for ASEAN Dialogue Partner status there are huge opportunities to cooperate on trade, health, climate & security.”
Ahead of the visit, Raab said: “This is my fourth visit to the region; to two key strategic partners, because the Indo-Pacific tilt is vital for the UK to grasp the economic opportunities and rise to the new challenges ahead.”