Kadin Invites Czech Republic To Invest In East Java

Chairman of the East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry Adik Dwi Putranto (left) gave souvenirs to the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Indonesia Jaroslav Dolecek in Surabaya, Thursday, July 20. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

Chairman of the East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Adik Dwi Putranto, invited the Czech Republic to invest in the local province.

Dwi Putranto's younger brother when receiving a visit from the Czech Republic Ambassador to the Republic of Indonesia Jaroslav Dolecek in Surabaya, Thursday, July 20, said the Czech Republic is one of the European countries whose economy is quite good and has a lot of potential to work with with East Java.

"But what needs to be remembered is that our trade balance with the Czech Republic is always revised. So that this Deviit can be suppressed, we invite the Czechs to invest here. We also invite cooperation in improving Human Resources through apprenticeship in order to support the revitalization program of vocational education in Indonesia," said Adik, as quoted by Antara.

Deputy General Chairperson for the International Trade Division of the East Java Chamber of Commerce Prof. Tomy Kaihatu explained that for five consecutive years, the trade balance between East Java and the Czech Republic has always been revised.

In 2018, trade balance deficits reached 9.47 million US dollars. In 2019, the devisit rose to 11.97 million US Dollars with details of East Java Exports reaching 1.78 million US Dollars while imports of teak from Czecha reached 13.76 million US Dollars.

In 2020, East Java's deficit is getting higher at 72.22 million US Dollars, in 2021 it will be revised at 16.98 million US Dollars and in 2022 the deficit will still be around 12.55 million US Dollars.

The non-oil and gas commodities from East Java to the Czech Republic include vehicles and their parts, aluminum, footwear, wood and wood goods, musical devices, tobacco, toys, sugar and sugar fireworks, paper and cardboard as well as non-graphed clothes.

Meanwhile, East Java imports from the Czechs include mechanical machinery and aircraft, organic chemicals, vehicles and parts, locomotives and rail equipment, plastic and plastic goods, tools, cut equipment and so on.

"Because when five years of minus, this cooperation becomes unbalanced and not good for the future. Cooperation must be mutually beneficial. To catch up, we suggest that they invest in East Java to seize the domestic market," said Tomy.

Likewise, the cooperation of the health industry, hospitals and medical supplies, is directed to invest here because the prospects are huge.

In addition to discussing trade and investment cooperation, it is also about the sustainability of rail project cooperation. The Czech Republic is one of the train-making countries in Europe.

"Because the discussion concerns three ministries, the Minister of Investment, the Minister of Transportation and the Minister of SOEs because they are related to INKA," he said.

Regarding the cooperation in the workforce, Prof. Tomy revealed that the average labor trend in the world is experiencing a labor shortage. On the other hand, in Indonesia, the number of workers is quite large.

"Because we are carrying out a revitalization project for vocational education, we want to send workers there. Apart from training and internships, we also have work experience there," said Prof. Tomy.

So far, the East Java Chamber of Commerce and Industry has collaborated with Germany and Japan. The hope is that through this meeting, cooperation in increasing labor with the Czech Republic will also be established.

"We hope that the country's representative partner represented by the Ambassador will also provide support. Because we are pursuing cooperation in the workforce. We hope that not only skills, but also technology transfers," he said.

The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Indonesia Jaroslav Dolecek said he was happy because this meeting was a clear proof of a shared commitment to improving the economy of both parties.

"We can find joint lessons to work together and also discuss openly, clearly, concretely to find something that is mutually beneficial, has prospects and benefits for both countries, especially East Java, Surabaya and Kadin," said Jaroslav Dolecek.

He hopes that the economy and business in Indonesia, especially East Java, will continue to grow.

"We want to work even harder, as a promotion of business partners, such as B to B, that's the reason why I visited Kadin again for the second time. I came up with something concrete. From this meeting, finally now we also know the potential for cooperation in the fields of transportation, logistics and agriculture," he said.