Airlangga Calls Indonesia The Main Startup ASEAN Player In The Forum In Canada

Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto (Doc. ANTARA)

Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto discussed economic issues that Indonesia is facing in the forum in Vancouver, Canada. One of them is about Indonesia as a major player in the startup sector in the ASEAN region.

Various strategic issues discussed include demographic bonuses and efforts to get out of the trap of middle income traps, energy and renewable energy transitions that are environmentally friendly, digital economy and the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA), industrial downstream to middle class.

"In the field of Digital Economy, Indonesia is the main startup player in ASEAN and is ranked 6th in the world, with the most innovative startups or 1st ranked in ASEAN," Airlangga said in a statement in Jakarta, citing ANTARA, Sunday, September 1.

The meeting was held by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) in Vancouver in collaboration with the ranks of the Indonesia Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) in Vancouver.

The meeting was attended by many companies and business associations in Vancouver owned and run by Indonesian entrepreneurs/diaspora, also attended by several Canadian-Indonesian Leaders Chamber of Commerce (West Coast of Canada), and attended by the Management of PERMIKA (Indonesian Student Association in Canada), as well as Indonesian students in Vancouver.

During his visit, Airlangga also explained about the map of Indonesia's International Economic Cooperation, starting from the multilateral cooperation of the G20, ASEAN region, APEC Cooperation, IEU CEPA Negotiations, as well as the Regional Cooperation scheme in Asia Pacific, namely RCEP, CP-TPP and IPEF (Indo Pacific Economic Framework) which are currently being focused together.

Then also explained about the development of the Indonesian accession process to become a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

To encourage the acceleration of accession, he explained that a national team has been formed with all ministries/agencies to conduct self-assessments and convey the Initial Memorandum which describes the suitability of Indonesian standards compared to OECD.

"Indonesia has expressed its desire to join CP-TPP, and take experience from the UK who recently joined CP-TPP," he said.

Meanwhile, from the Indonesian diaspora, Luthfi Doffier and Matthew Riyanto from Canada-Indonesia Chamber of Commerce conveyed their support and asked what the Indonesian Government needed from the Diaspora, in order to make Canada more attractive and more cooperative.

Monica Khoe from Indigo Prima said that several Indonesian agro products were over-supply so that prices fell and the importance of logistics was efficient to reduce logistics costs.

In this series of visits to Vancouver, Canada, Airlangga is also scheduled to speak in front of the Business Forum which will be hosted by the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia (KJRI) and the Indonesian Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) in Vancouver on September 3, 2024.

The meeting was also intended for direct dialogue with potential entrepreneurs and investors who were expected to be encouraged to immediately invest and carry out their business activities in Indonesia.

As for the end of August, Airlangga made a working visit for several days to Vancouver, Canada, which was intended to explore increased economic cooperation, trade and investment between Indonesia and Canada, particularly with the British Columbia Province.