Airlangga Accompanies Jokowi In Attending The Meeting Of State Leaders At The COP26 Series

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto together with Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani. (Photo: Doc. Coordinating Ministry for the Economy)

JAKARTA - After attending the G20 Summit in Rome, Italy, Indonesian President Joko Widodo accompanied by a number of Ministers of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet, including the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, attended a series of High-Level Segment events at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow-Scotland, on November 1 and 2, 2021.

In the series of activities of the COP26 Summit, the President submitted a National Statement and participated in the Forest and Land Use Summit and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy also attended several agendas of the President's meeting.

The activity was initiated by the CEO Roundtable Forum agenda to strengthen business and investment partnerships with the UK in priority sectors, and this is in line with Indonesia's interests at COP26.

The forum was attended by a number of leaders and representatives of British multinational investor companies, such as British Petroleum (BP), Nova Innovation, Jardines, Mars, Standard Chartered, Orbital Marine, and Citibank, with total potential deliverables of USD 9.29 billion. At that time, a cooperation agreement was signed between Pertamina and ExxonMobil in the context of developing Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) technology.

Meanwhile, President Jokowi's meeting with British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson discussed efforts to encourage closer cooperation in the field of research and training in the health sector.

The President also encouraged the UK to increase cooperation in efforts to restore the national economy, among others by strengthening trade through the committee mechanism forum that had been formed and inviting more UK investment in Indonesia, particularly in several priority sectors, such as manufacturing, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and other health sectors.

When meeting with the President of the United States (US) Joe Biden, the Indonesian Delegation expressed appreciation for the US Government's assistance in handling COVID-19, in the form of sending vaccines, ventilators, and therapeutic drugs.

President Jokowi also conveyed the importance of strengthening economic cooperation, especially the potential for green economy development, in line with national economic recovery measures and strengthening the investment climate through structural reforms and the Job Creation Law.

"In the meeting, the President hoped that the US could increase its investment in Indonesia, and must be prepared to be part of the supply chain of major products, for example for materials for environmentally friendly vehicles or electric cars," said the Coordinating Minister for the Economy in a written statement, Wednesday, November 3.

In the field of climate change, the two countries agreed to have a strong commitment to reducing carbon emissions through the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) commitment, in which Indonesia is one of the leading countries in handling forest fires, reducing deforestation rates, and restoring mangrove forests.

"Indonesia's steps and commitments as summarized in the NDC also target the energy sector, and other related sectors. The two Presidents agreed to increase closer cooperation, especially during Indonesia's G20 Presidency which encourages digital cooperation, energy transition, and inclusive finance, especially for MSMEs and other vulnerable groups," said Coordinating Minister Airlangga.

On the sidelines of a fairly busy agenda of activities, President Jokowi on a separate occasion has also met with other Heads of State/Government, such as the Prime Minister of Slovenia and the PM of Palestine, as well as several other companies such as Amazon and Microsoft.

On this occasion, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and his entourage also had the opportunity to visit the Indonesian Pavilion which was established for outreach activities for Indonesia's achievements in the field of climate change management. The Pavilion activities were filled by a number of representatives from Ministries/Institutions, including several SOEs, national companies, and civil society who are also engaged in the environment and biodiversity.

In addition to the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, other Ministers of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet were also present, namely the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, the Minister of Environmental and Forestry (LHK), the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of SOEs, the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), then the Cabinet Secretary, and from the private sector, namely the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.