Whoever the US President is Elected, the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is Always Open to Cooperation

Photo: Doc. Antara

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) is always open and ready to establish economic and business cooperation with the United States (US) regardless of who the country's president is elected in the 2024 US Presidential Election.

"For us, whether it's Joe Biden, whether it's Donald Trump, whether it's the US Democratic Party, whether it's the US Republican Party, we work with the US. Because it's clear that Indonesia has an active free policy," said the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Arsjad Rasyid, in a press conference in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Monday, July 15.

According to Arsjad, Kadin always wants to cooperate because the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry represents the business side of the world.

"We focus on the business world. Whatever happens in any country, trade can continue," he said.

On the same occasion, Deputy General Chairperson for Maritime Affairs, Investment and Foreign Affairs, Shinta W. Kamdani, said that Kadin plays a role in bridging to facilitate Indonesian and US entrepreneurs.

"So maybe I'll explain first the role of Kadin that was conveyed by the Chairman of Kadin. Indeed, we also specifically bridge to facilitate Indonesian-American entrepreneurs. But besides that, we also play a role in Indonesia's role through the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework or IPEF," said Shinta.

As is known, IPEF was initiated by the US, and IPEF includes Indo-Pacific countries and Indonesia, and several other ASEAN countries have also joined.

Regarding IPEF, the Indonesian Government has completed four areas, namely related to the trade supply chain, then digitalization, green economy, and intellectual property, and others.

"What are the results of the negotiations carried out by the government for business? This is one of the things that the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry does because we have to bridge with various IPEF countries and also what benefits can be obtained," said Shinta.

According to her, in IPEF there are a lot of capacity building, including in it, as is known, the United States is currently increasing in terms of critical minerals and others.

"In the context of Biden, he is more regional. So if we look at IPEF, it is regional. Whereas Trump seems to be more specific, he is very pragmatic," she said.

Based on the experience of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry when Trump served as US President for the 2017-2021 period, pragmatic and deals can be more direct or transactional. Although in economic negotiations with the US it is very thick with US interests.

"But what is clear is that we started at that time with limited trade deals. What we hope is that if Trump becomes this, limited trade deals can continue to be pushed," said Shinta.

According to her, limited trade deals are an opportunity for Indonesia and the US.

"Maybe if we have an agreement like the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US, it's not that easy. So we usually have a limited trade deal for a specific area, we make an agreement. Well, this is the opportunity that we want to take again, maybe later with Trump if Trump is elected, for example, our exports to America for textiles, textiles and textile products (TPT), but we can also import from America for cotton," he said.

"So that's one of the limited trade deals as an example. So maybe if Trump is a pragmatic person, we can be more transactional. But of course, as conveyed by the General Chairperson of Kadin, the focus in Kadin is clearly the economy," said Shinta.