RI-Australia Agree To Identify New Investment Opportunities In Renewable Energy Trade

Renewable energy (photo: unsplash)

JAKARTA - Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso received a visit from the Secretary of the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, Mr. David Fredericks. The meeting discussed strengthening cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy transition.

Australia is one of the important partners for Indonesia. In 2023, Australia's Direct Foreign Investment in Indonesia grew by 4.0 percent or 545.2 million US dollars. We see great potential in developing pilot projects for energy transition cooperation, especially in remote areas under the KINETIC Framework Program," said Susiwijono in his statement, Wednesday, July 3.

Meanwhile, this meeting is part of a series of Fredericks visits to Indonesia to deepen understanding of the cooperation that can be carried out between Australia and Indonesia in the field of energy transition.

In addition, this meeting aims to gain views from stakeholders in Indonesia, including the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy regarding closer cooperation in the industrial and energy sectors that are environmentally friendly and investment priorities between the two countries.

"Indonesia and Australia can collaborate more closely to meet the needs of third countries in the region through the development of the environmentally friendly energy industry sector and investment priorities," said Fredericks.

Furthermore, Fredericks also conveyed the potential collaboration that can be carried out in the future by the Australian Government to support the Government of Indonesia under the framework of the Partnership for Climate, Renewable Energy and Infrastructure (KINETIK) Framework in an effort towards clean energy.

As is known, the Framework KINETIK Program is a follow-up to the commitment of the President of the Republic of Indonesia and the Australian PM to the Annual Leaders' Meeting (ALM) of Indonesia-Australia 2023.

Therefore, the KINETIK program is expected to be able to realize concrete projects in the environmentally friendly energy sector supported by various other Australian cooperation programs such as the Australian Indonesia Partnership Program for the Economy (PROSPERA), as well as increasing the involvement of business actors from both countries.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to identify new opportunities in investment, trade in the renewable energy sector, especially in solar technology, hydrogen technology, and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) which can accelerate the two countries in achieving Net Zero Emission (NZE).

Fredericks also introduced Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) which can facilitate the Government of Indonesia with a scheme that allows the delivery of a team of Indonesian experts to Australia, to deepen collaboration in a sustainable energy transition.

On this occasion, Susiwijono also highlighted the increasing trade relationship between Indonesia and Australia since the implementation of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Agreement (IA-CEPA) and it is hoped that the use of existing trade cooperation will bring more investment to Indonesia.

"We invite Australian business actors to invest by utilizing various incentives and facilities in Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Currently, of the 21 existing SEZs, there are 10 SEZs with a special focus on the energy sector," said Susiwijono.

In addition, Fredericks agreed that the private sector plays an important role in the collaboration of the energy transition and the green economy. In addition, the two countries need to increase community interaction between the two countries.

As is known, the Australian Awards Indonesia is one of the largest educational and training cooperation programs, with more than 13 thousand alumni spread across various sectors and supporting Indonesia's development.

The high interest of the Indonesian people to pursue education in Australia is behind the establishment of Australian Universities in several cities in Indonesia.

At the end of the meeting, Susiwijono emphasized that the new Indonesian government will continue various priority programs of the current government, especially regarding Indonesia's accession efforts in OECD and Indonesia's energy transition to NZE.

Meanwhile, Australia responded positively and committed to collaborating more closely, taking advantage of the advantages of the two countries.