Deputy Minister Of Foreign Affairs Havas Calls INALAC 2025 Real Steps For Proactive Indonesian Economic Diplomacy

The opening of INALAC 2025 in Sao Paolo, Brazil. (Source: Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

JAKARTA - The Indonesia-Latin America and the Caribbean (INALIAC) 2025 held in Brazil is a real step in Indonesia's proactive economic diplomacy, said Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno.

Indonesia has reiterated its work in Latin America and the Caribbean (Amlatkar) through the implementation of INALAC 2025 at Sao Paolo on September 22-23.

Carrying the theme "Charting goals Sustainable and Resilient Partnerships", this forum invites business people in the two regions to adapt to facing global challenges, ranging from rising tariffs and trade wars, protectionism, and geopolitical tensions.

Speaking in the opening remarks video, Deputy Foreign Minister Havas emphasized the importance of the consistency of Indonesia's proactive economic diplomacy as an effort to diversify, expand and intensify outside traditional markets.

Deputy Foreign Minister Havas called the 7th INA-LAC Business Mission as a tangible manifestation of this step, while highlighting Amlatkar as a strategic partner with great potential in the fields of food, energy, agriculture, and critical minerals.

"The Amlatkar area has abundant mineral reserves, especially lithium, and Indonesia has the largest nickel reserves in the world. When combined, we have a promising future. Therefore, we need a common platform so that critical minerals are not only raw commodities, but can be processed into added value products, for the sake of prosperity for our people," he said, quoted from a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tuesday, September 23.

Deputy Foreign Minister Havas also encouraged the success of the "Critical Raw Mineral Production Countries (CRM) Dialogue" in Jakarta in June 2025, to be replicated together with countries in the Amlatkar region, considering that this area is the main producer of world strategic minerals.

It is known that the 7th INALAC Business Mission is a bridge that brings Indonesia closer and the Amlatkar area as well as proves that geographical distance and language are no longer obstacles.

Previously, after five times holding the INALAC Business Forum in Jakarta (2019-2023), INALAC last year for the first time was held in the area, Peru to be exact. The INALAC business mission in Sao Paolo is the 2nd mission to be held in the region.

"The breakthrough was made by bringing the INALAC Business Forum and Trade Mission to Lima, Peru in September 2024 with sweet fruit. INALAC 2024 which was held 11-13 September 2024 was able to record transactions of around Rp. 16.2 trillion, an increase drastically by 157 percent," said the Director General of America and Europe at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Umar Hadi at the time.

Indonesia's trade value with Latin America and the Caribbean region recorded a significant increase, from 7.59 billion US dollars in 2018 to 14.43 billion US dollars in 2024.

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes that this forum will further strengthen Indonesia's economic relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as support Indonesia's economic diplomacy strengthening agenda at the global level.