16 Nov Asean Business Partners participates in the panel discussion on “Investing during the Pandemic”
The Indonesian government officially launched the Indonesia-Latin America and the Caribbean (INA-LAC) Business Forum 2020 on Monday, 9 November 2020. Over 350 participants attended the opening event designed to further develop and strengthen trade and economic cooperation between Indonesia and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, there is significant potential to increase trade between both parties, which today represents only 2 percent of Indonesia’s total trade and a mere 0.34 percent of LAC’s total trade globally.
Minister Retno Marsudi further elaborated that INA-LAC should focus on three issues:
1. To create more opportunities – Indonesia stands ready to establish new trade agreements with more LAC countries
2. To discover new opportunities in digital economy – Indonesia is the fastest growing and largest digital economy in the Asia with a predicted value of USD 133 billion. The LAC countries are also experiencing a rapid progress in digital connectivity.
3. To institutionalize the INA–LAC Business Forum. The establishment of INA-LAC digital platform is one of the tools to showcase products, investment opportunities and updates on business activities in both regions. Minister Retno Marsudi formally launched INA-LAC digital platform (ina-lac.com) at the event.
Asean Business Partners’ founder, Sumit Dutta, spoke in the event on the topic of “Investing during the Pandemic”.
Sumit cited the attractiveness of Indonesia as an investment destination as well as providing insight into potential market sectors for Latin American companies to invest in. He mentioned that Indonesia’s strong macro-economic position, favourable demographics and stable political & social environment were good reasons for investors from Latin America to consider investing in Indonesia.
Sumit also discussed how the Omnibus Law could potentially assist to generate additional foreign investment, and the need for Indonesia to market itself in a more focused manner to ensure that overseas investors were aware of the benefits of the Omnibus Law as well as the improved economic and investment climate in Indonesia.
You can watch Sumit presenting at the INA-LAC Business Forum 2020 session here: ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSdcHdqPpjg&t=6143s time 1:17.13 to 2:21.20).”