The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Invites German Businessmen To Intensify Cooperation In Energy Transition

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Arsjad Rasjid delivers his opening speech at the B20 Business and Investment Forum held at the KFW Building in Frankfurt, Germany. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) invites a number of businessmen in Germany to intensify cooperation in the energy transition sector.

The effort started from the B20 Business and Investment Forum which was held at the KFW Building in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday 2 June.

Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arsjad Rasjid, in his remarks invited business people to remain optimistic in the midst of global challenges such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine which caused inflation to increase in food and energy prices.

Arsjad said cooperation between the government and the private sector could be one solution to support economic recovery, including achieving net zero emissions and increasing trade and investment.

In accordance with the three priorities of Business 20 (B20), namely global health, digital transformation, and energy transition, Arsjad invited German businessmen, especially members of the Trier Chamber of Commerce (IHK) to be directly involved in the energy transition, which is also a priority for the German government.

He also emphasized that Indonesia, once known for its complexity in investing, has now changed.

Indonesia has a job creation law or omnibus law that makes business easier and aims to create jobs to overcome poverty in Indonesia.

"We have the Omnibus Law which handles many unexpected things, especially regarding trade and investment. We want investors to come to Indonesia and we ensure that there is easy access for investors," said Arsjad as quoted by Antara, Saturday, June 4.

Indonesia, he continued, has a mission to become a country with the fifth largest economy in the world by 2045 and to become the seventh largest economy in 2030.

Indonesia's economic performance is also quite good even though in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was even able to grow 5 percent in the first quarter of 2022.

"We have to strengthen relations between Indonesia and Germany which have lasted for 70 years. We have human resources, we have natural resources and I believe Indonesia will be the right partner for Germany," he said.

The same thing was conveyed by the Head of B20 Indonesia, Shinta Kamdani, who said he knew very well that Germany was trying to accelerate the rate of energy transition from fossil fuels to new and renewable energy, which is also a priority for B20, which is an official engagement group that represents the business community.

“I know Germany is very interested in green investment and that's why we came. I know there are many challenges such as licensing, legality and the like, but B20 is the right momentum for you, we will facilitate all of that for you,” said Shinta.

The B20 Forum, said Shinta, will be a platform to provide policy recommendations to the G20 Government regarding post-pandemic economic recovery and the development of inclusive and sustainable economic cooperation.

Therefore, Indonesia has prepared a number of projects in the fields of new renewable energy, blue economy, and eco-tourism which are the right investment options for Germany.

"We are here to bring B20 but more than that to inform about collaborations that can be established with Germany. This is a golden period to take part in the growth and transformation of sustainability in Indonesia," he said.

Indonesian Ambassador to Germany Arif Havas Oegroseno said that the cooperation between Indonesia and Germany began 500 years ago when German doctors came to Indonesia and traded tobacco with Germany.

The B20 Business and Investment Forum in Frankfurt is an important forum for strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

Likewise, CEO/Chamber of Commerce (IHK) Trier/German Chamber Network Jan Glockaeur who said that Kadin Indonesia has become one of the largest partners of IHK in facilitating Indonesia-Germany business cooperation in various sectors such as automotive, energy and chemical, including including promote the EU-Indonesia FTA.

He hopes that IHK's cooperation with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry will continue and be improved.

At the forum, a number of KADIN delegates also expressed a number of views in order to achieve innovative, inclusive and collaborative growth between Indonesia and Germany.

Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of Europe Kadin Indonesia, Didit Ratam, discussed the description of trade and investment opportunities in Indonesia, including technical advice on entering the Indonesian market as well as current developments in food and energy.

Then, Chairman of Kadin's Net Zero Hub Muhammad Yusrizki explained Indonesia's net zero emission commitments, carbon net zero commitments to Kadin's commitment through Kadin's Net Zero Hub to encourage the private sector to use the ESG approach in doing business and to build a supportive and inclusive ecosystem for MSME actors.

He also invited Germany to support the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in achieving net zero through funding and investment in energy transformation.

Meanwhile, the Chair of the Standing Committee for International Negotiations at Kadin, Anne Sutanto, who explained that Indonesia had launched "Making Indonesia 4.0" in 2018 with priority sectors of food and beverage, textiles and apparel, automotive, chemical, electronics, pharmaceutical, and medical devices. Indonesia is also the largest digital economy and industry 4.0 player in Southeast Asia. In addition, Anne also asked for German support to collaborate in the circular economy and green energy, such as in the textile sector.

Open the investment door

The visit of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Delegation led by Chairman Arsjad is not only to invite businessmen in Germany to attend the B20 Summit in Bali in November, but also to explore investment opportunities.

One of them was a meeting with Deutsche Bank, which has been operating for more than 50 years in Indonesia. Ketum Arsjad said that Indonesia now has a new face that is friendly to investment and trade, which is supported by the presence of the Job Creation Law which provides many conveniences in doing business and investing in Indonesia.

Indonesia has priority projects that require further investment, such as in the fields of EBT/green energy, ecotourism, IKN, mining, including nickel and the development of EV batteries. Kadin is ready to facilitate investment and trade that will enter Indonesia, including for links and matches between Indonesian-German businessmen through the KADIN Business Service Desk platform.

Kadin hopes to cooperate with Deutsche Bank in supporting downstreaming so that Indonesia will no longer only export raw materials, but can also provide added value in a sustainable supply chain.

Welcoming the visit of the Kadin delegation, Deutsche Bank expressed interest in projects that focus on the issue of gender diversity for gender equality and energy transition to achieve net zero emissions. Deutsche Bank also accepted the invitation to the B20 Summit to be followed up.

Furthermore, the leadership of Kadin met with Siemens Energy to explore the potential of renewable energy in Indonesia, such as hydrogen, solar, wind and gas energy. The positive trend of energy transition in Asia Pacific, especially Indonesia, is able to attract German companies to invest capital in green-based projects.

The meeting continued with 4Initia to present a plan to develop a net-zero economy based on new and renewable energy (EBT). As a leading NRE company, 4Initia continues to seek more opportunities in the country, including considering the energy transition as one of the priorities of Indonesia's G20 Presidency.

The leadership of Kadin also met with the board of KfW, Germany's leading development bank. Shinta Kamdani conveyed the B20 plan, namely the Global Blended Finance Alliance, which was judged to be in accordance with the KfW development model. Besides also inviting KfW to provide financial support and technical support as needed.

The business visit of the Kadin delegation was not only to companies that prioritize the energy transition sector, but also to Merck Group, a German multinational science and technology company. Kadin chose to visit Merck's headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany because the company, which was founded for 350 years, has been active in Indonesia since 1974 and has made Indonesia a base for sales to countries in ASEAN and even to Africa.

Chairman of the Standing Committee for Investment Planning at Kadin Indonesia, Reza Maspaitella, said that Kadin would like to invite Merck to accelerate relations between the two parties to strategic sectors that are Indonesia's development priorities, one of which is the health care industry.

Reza sees Merck as a company that is always willing to innovate, both from the aspect of life science and the development of nano technology to micro chips for the electronics industry. Kadin hopes that Merck will not only make Indonesia a production base but also an R&D Center for the ASEAN or Asia region. In addition, Merck's technological innovations such as lamps and windows are also considered suitable to be applied in the Indonesian capital.

"That way we can show other companies that when we become partners in Indonesia, we are partners for life, we appreciate and want to develop together for the global market," said Reza.

Kadin's business trip in Germany was closed with a visit to the Ministry of Economy, Energy, Transport and Housing, State of Germany, Hesse and Hesse Trade and Invest.

Deputy of the European Standing Committee of Kadin Didit Ratam said that the purpose of the meeting was to introduce B20 to the Hesse government and businessmen and to discuss several energy priority topics such as energy transition, digitalization and the global health architecture. Besides also discussing the topic of net zero and circular economy where the state of Hesse has an advantage in Germany.

"The state of Hesse, which includes the city of Frankfurt as one of the main trading cities in Germany, already has a fairly close trade track record with Indonesia," said Didit.

In addition to agreeing to increase trade between the two countries as well as investment, Kadin and Hesse are planning a follow-up roadmap towards cooperation between centers of excellence and leading companies in the state of Hesse with Indonesian companies under the auspices of Kadin.