Airlangga Invites Singapore To Be A Peace And Stability Reacher In ASEAN And Indo-Pacific Areas

Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto. (Photo: Doc. Coordinating Ministry for the Economy)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto held a bilateral meeting with Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.

He hopes that Singapore can also anchor in peace and stability in Asean and the Indo-Pacific region.

Meanwhile, this wish was conveyed by Airlangga at the Ministerial Meeting of Indonesia 'Singapore Six Bilateral Economic Working Groups (MM 6WG) meeting is the annual agenda of the Ministerial Level Meeting within the framework of bilateral economic cooperation between Indonesia and Singapore.

The 6WG bilateral economic cooperation ministerial meeting itself has been held 13 times where the last meeting was held in Semarang in mid-August in 2023.

Bilateral 6WG cooperation aims to increase economic cooperation between the two countries, which includes increasing cooperation in the Batam, Bintan, Karimun (BBK) and other SEZ areas, increasing investment, increasing cooperation in the transportation sector, cooperation in the field of labor, cooperation in the field of agribusiness, and increasing cooperation in the tourism sector.

On this occasion, Airlangga explained, in the next ten years Indonesia will want to enter the top 10 countries with the largest economies in the world.

Therefore, to be able to achieve this, Airlangga said that Indonesia needed economic growth in the range of 6 percent to 7 percent, so that Indonesia needed more investment.

According to Airlangga, this achievement also requires better support and collaboration with Singapore.

Indonesia will also continue to strive to maintain stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific region as well as in the ASEAN region. I am sure that Indonesia and Singapore can anchor," said Airlangga in his statement, Friday, June 7.

Airlangga also conveyed developments related to Indonesia's accession to become the first member of ASEAN in the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), as well as Indonesia's efforts to access Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) members.

He said, with Singapore's support, Indonesia could become a member of OECD and CPTPP in the not too distant future.

Regarding a number of advances that have been made by the six working groups of Indonesia-Singapore bilateral cooperation, Airlangga conveyed the existence of Data Center investments at Nongsa Digital Park, Batam.

"To differentiate with similar industries, apart from being a Data Center center, Nongsa Digital Park is also used as a training and education center for digital talent in Batam," said Airlangga.

In addition, Airlangga said that in order to support the mobility of Singaporean investors to Indonesia, there has been an easy regulation on multiple entry visas for Singaporean experts who make routine visits via Visa D17 as well as a cross-ministerial/Institution coordination scheme related to the notification of the arrival of experts visiting the BBK area.

On this occasion, Airlangga also mentioned the Kendal Industrial Park (KIP) which since it was converted into a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) has made the KIP value skyrocket and created many multiplier effects.

He conveyed that the exponential growth was directly related to the financial incentives provided at the SEZ in the form of tax facilities such as tax holidays and tax allowances.

Currently, there are 100 business actors and an investment value of IDR 43.8 trillion in KIP.

"We really appreciate the current process, because the process is a journey itself. Six Bilateral Economic Working Groups have also made very meaningful progress, and I thank the team of the two countries who have worked hard to achieve it," Airlangga concluded.

The meeting ended with the signing of the Joint Report to Leaders document, as a report from the two ministers to the leaders of the two countries regarding the achievements and development of economic bilateral cooperation 6WG.