Indonesia holds business forum with Latin America with a view to energy transition

Indonesia ends this Tuesday in Jakarta its fifth business forum with Latin America and the Caribbean that seeks to promote trade and investment relations between Indonesian and Latin American companies with an emphasis on the health sector, automotive and furniture, and the energy transition.

The Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister, Pahala Mansury, highlighted in the opening speech the potential for exchange between Indonesia and these countries, with a total investment of US$11.3 million last year and a trade exchange of US$13.1 billion.

One of the priority sectors according to Mansury will be the energy transition, given that both Indonesia and some of the American countries present have large reserves of natural resources, such as essential metals for the manufacture of batteries, which is why the vice minister defended the need to “develop better cooperation in the minerals sector” for “accelerate the global energy transition.”

Umar Hadi, Indonesian director general for European and American Affairs, added that other priority sectors will be pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, automotive parts and furniture.

At the end of the day, Hadi told the media that more than 630 participants attended the day and that commercial transactions worth more than US$ 407 million were reached, in sectors such as automotive, food and health.

For his part, the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Víctor Manuel Villalobos, stated in a recorded speech that “There is ample room to improve cooperation” between these countries and highlighted the strength of Mexico’s agri-food sector.

Villalobos’s intervention was motivated by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Mexican Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce.

Diplomats from the participating countries and some businessmen participated in the meeting, with the presence of at least eight Peruvian companies (Zendra Import, Disernic, Disesdi, Servicios generales Unibam, Ventitas, All Blue, Delkor and Vidriería Huancayo), two Brazilian companies (Badax commercial and Odora Minerales), a Venezuelan company (Diana Industries) and companies from Jamaica and Suriname.

Held for the first time in 2019, this Business Forum, titled this year ‘Forging an effective partnership’allowed business transactions worth US$16.57 million last year, according to the Indonesian Government, which aims to increase the figure this year due to the greater number of participants.