Aiming For Investment, Luhut Pandjaitan Flies To South Korea, K-Pop Lands, Meets Bosses From LG To Hyundai

Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. (Photo: Doc. Kemenko Marves)

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan paid a working visit to South Korea on May 24-25. He was accompanied by Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin and Deputy Minister of BUMN Kartika Wirjoatmodjo.

Luhut said the visit this time was aimed at strengthening economic cooperation between the two countries in various fields, especially increasing investment in the pharmaceutical industry and green energy.

"For two days we met with several South Korean companies such as Hyundai, LG Energy Solution, which are also committed to eco-friendliness and reducing carbon emissions," he said in an official statement, Friday, May 28.

Furthermore, Luhut said several South Korean companies would also invest in environmentally friendly fields. According to him, the investment will help Indonesia achieve its carbon emission reduction target.

On the first day of his visit, Luhut and his delegation held a series of meetings with various South Korean companies. Among them are CEO of LG Energy Solution Jong Hyun Kim, Chairman of Korea Federation of Banks Kim Gwang-soo, Vice Chairman / CEO of SK E&S Co. Ltd. Jeong Joon Yu as well as the pharmaceutical company Sungwun Pharmacopia.

In a meeting with LG Energy Solution CEO Jong Hyun Kim, Luhut discussed investment in electric vehicle batteries. The LG Consortium itself has signed an initial agreement that was done virtually on April 29, 2021.

Furthermore, Coordinating Minister Luhut and his entourage met with the Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, Kim Gwang-soo, to discuss investment in the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), which is the government's commitment to attracting investment to help infrastructure development.

Then, Luhut continued the meeting with Sungwun Pharmacopia to invite the pharmaceutical company to increase investment in the development of medicinal raw materials (BBO) or Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) in Indonesia in collaboration with PT Kimia Farma.

In addition, Luhut also visited the Hyundai Motorstudio. He discussed environmentally friendly energy investment. Hyundai itself is one company that has an important role in the energy transition with the use of hydrogen energy.

Meanwhile, on May 25, Luhut held a meeting with Vice Chairman & CEO of Celltrion Healthcare Hyoung Ki Kim to discuss vaccine development between Genexine and PT Kalbe Farma Tbk.

Next, the group had a meeting with Samsung Electronics to discuss Samsung's investment potential in Indonesia. The agenda for the day was closed with a meeting with The National Pension Service of Korea Kim Yong Jin.

Coordinating Minister Luhut's working visit to South Korea this time carries a mission to increase Indonesia's commitment to achieve the target of reducing carbon emissions. Therefore, in addition to meeting with companies from South Korea, Luhut also met with South Korean Environment Minister Han Jeoung-ae to discuss cooperation to increase resilience to climate change and carbon economic value (carbon pricing).

"We focus on ensuring points regarding technology transfer in every investment that will enter Indonesia. This is one of the five criteria that foreign investors must meet if they want to invest in Indonesia," he said.

The other criteria are bringing environmentally friendly technology, using local Indonesian labor, creating added value, and business to business (B2B) cooperation.