SURABAYA - The Surabaya City Government is exploring cooperation in the economic sector with the Australian government to generate a people's economy and investment in the City of Heroes, East Java.
"We hope that in the future we can be open to each other. For example, Australian products can enter Surabaya and vice versa, goods from Surabaya can be exported to Australia," said Surabaya Mayor Eri Cahyadi when receiving a visit from the Australian Consul General in Surabaya Fiona Hoggart at City Hall , reported by Antara, Wednesday, April 6.
Also attending were the Australian Trade Commissioner, the Australian Consul General in Surabaya, Lauren Adams, and the Executive Assistant to the Australian Consul General and the Public Diplomacy Staff, Regina Halim.
In addition, there are also Assistant for Economics and Development for the Surabaya City Government, Irvan Widyanto, Head of the Tourism and Sports Office, Wiwiek Widayati, Head of the Small and Medium Business Cooperatives and Trade Agency, Fauzie Mustaqiem Yos and many others.
Mayor Eri conveyed several wishes for cooperation considering that Surabaya has many Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) products, ranging from clothing, food and beverages to handicrafts whose quality is not inferior to manufactured products.
According to him, the Surabaya City Government is quite open with investors who want to invest in the City of Heroes. For Eri, building a city definitely requires more investors and involves the community to be part of the development.
"We conveyed earlier to Mrs. Fiona, in building a city we need investors. When investors come in, they will definitely need a lot of jobs. The people of Surabaya City can be part of the development carried out by investors," he said.
In addition to opening up job opportunities for the community, he said, the presence of investors will also ease the Surabaya City Regional Budget (APBD).
"City development is also impossible to use pure APBD, if it is done then the APBD for the people's economy will also run out. Therefore we need collaboration, so that this APBD can be used for the people's economy," he said.
Meanwhile, the Australian Consul General in Surabaya, Fiona Hoggart, thanked Mayor Eri Cahyadi for his warm welcome. On his first visit this time, he hopes that the relationship between the City of Surabaya and Australia will continue to be well in the future.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) official also said that the good relations between Indonesia and Australia that had been established so far were very good. Therefore, this is a golden opportunity for cooperation in the investment, economy, manufacturing, technology and agriculture sectors in the city of Surabaya
"Australia and Indonesia are neighbors and have a very good, very deep and long-standing relationship. Likewise, the relationship between Mr. President Joko Widodo and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison," said Fiona.
According to Fiona, the city of Surabaya is not only suitable for investment, but also suitable as a center for the development of technology and food processing manufacturing.
"In Surabaya, everything is there. Moreover, currently Australian Trade Commissioner Lauren Adams is assigned to this city, he is assigned to Surabaya specifically to increase trade and investment cooperation," he said.
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