RI And South Africa Agree To Strengthen Environmental Friendly Industry Cooperation

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto (left) when he met the Minister of Trade of South Africa (Photo: Doc. Coordinating Ministry for the Economy)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian government is known to strengthen cooperative relations with South Africa related to the development of environmentally friendly industries.

This commitment was seen when Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto met the Minister of Trade and Industry of South Africa Ebrahim Patel in Bali this week.

According to Airlangga, Indonesia's manufacturing sector continues to be pushed towards low-carbon emissions through a series of energy transition efforts.

This strategy is considered useful in terms of achieving climate resilience that supports the environment and job creation.

South Africa itself has the cooperation of Just Energy Transition Partnership with France, Germany, Britain and the United States. This experience can be studied and best practice for Indonesia in finding suitable models to deal with the issue of climate change in Indonesia," he said in an official statement quoted Friday, September 23.

Airlangga added that the two countries agreed to discuss various potential economic aspects, including the new mineral and rock (minerba) sector and steps to release dependence on fuel fossils.

"Technology such as Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) including its funding mechanism needs to be encouraged and have a significant impact on both countries," he said.

On the same occasion, Ebrahim Patel said South Africa wanted Indonesia to be an important part of supporting the creation of a sustainable and environmentally friendly industry.

"This meeting is in order to explore concrete opportunities that can be collaborated between the two countries, especially in areas of concern and shared potential," said Ebrahim.

For information, the trade value of Indonesia-South Africa in 2021 was recorded at USD 2.06 billion.

This figure shot up when compared to the 2020 period which amounted to 1.2 billion US dollars.

Furthermore, these two G20 countries are noted to be experienced in the mining industry and raw materials processing such as bauxite, copper, and aluminum, so it is considered necessary to explore the right cooperation platform for this field.

In addition to discussing energy and mining cooperation, there is also the potential for halal cooperation and the automotive industry and its components.

Then, both parties agreed for various experiences and created opportunities for cooperation and continued regular communication.

Work with local industry is also carried out in order to create a balanced investment value.