Month: February 2024

The relationship between Indonesia and Vietnam has been going on for a long time, so that currently the two countries have agreed to set new targets in terms of trade. This was decided from the bilateral meeting of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, Friday (12/1/2024).

“The 10 years of Indonesia and Vietnam’s strategic partnerships are celebrated by exceeding the trade target of US $ 10 billion (equivalent to IDR 155.6 Trillion) and the strength of cooperation in various fields,” Jokowi said when giving a joint press statement.

From that meeting Jokowi revealed that the two countries agreed to increase new trade targets. In addition, there is also an increase in cooperation in the fields of food, energy transition, and digital economy.

“Regarding the meeting I want to convey the first few things we agree to increase new trade targets,” Jokowi said.

On the same occasion the President of Vietnam, Vo Van Thuong also revealed several results of the meeting. One of them from the trade sector of the two countries set a new trade target of US $ 15 billion or equivalent to IDR 233.4 Trillion (IDR 15,565.00 /US $). He also requested specifically requested that agricultural products and Vietnamese halal products be given the ease of entering the Indonesian market.

“Third, try to quickly bring bilateral trade in the level of US $ 15 billion and more in accordance with the current direction. In addition, we also ask that Indonesia create ease of sharing of agricultural products and halal products from Vietnam to approach the Indonesian market,” said Thuong.

There is other cooperation such as strengthening in the fields of education, training, agriculture, fisheries, culture, tourism, and information technology. Also expands to other fields of potential such as the digital economy and energy transformation.

Thuong invites Indonesian business entities to further increase investment in Vietnam, especially in the banking sector, financial technology (fintech), creative innovation and so on. On the other hand, it makes it easy for Vietnamese business entities to invest in Indonesia.

In the automotive field, Vinfast, one of the largest private companies in the automotive field in Vietnam will build an electric car factory in Indonesia. He explained that this factory was able to compete with global electric automotive players by having a factory in the USA. Vinfast produces 250 thousand units of cars per year. The total investment of this cooperation is US $ 1.2 billion or equivalent to IDR 18.7 trillion.

“I believe that the visit of the Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Indonesia’s high-level delegation will make an active contribution to the development of Vietnam-Indonesia’s strategic relations and strategic partnerships in the interests of the people of two countries, for peace, the stability of cooperation and development in the region and the world, “concluded Thuong.

January 12, 2024, CNBC Indonesia & detikFinance

(https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20240112184945-4-505264/ri-vietnam-sepakat-kejar-target-dagang-rp233-t)

(https://finance.detik.com/energi/d-7140513/ri-gandeng-vietnam-bangun-pabrik-mobil-listrik-erick-kuatkan-ekosistem-ev)

(https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-7138597/ri-dan-vietnam-sepakat-kerja-sama-di-bidang-pertanian-perikanan)

President Joko Widodo meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. In this meeting, the two countries agreed to extend and strengthen cooperation that has existed for 75 years. This was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the two countries. The bilateral agreement offers potential benefits in the environmental, geopolitical, technological, economic and energy fields.

In the economic sector, President Jokowi said the two countries agreed to open trade and market access. In particular, Jokowi asked for Marcos’ support regarding securing trade in coffee products from Indonesia.

“In the economic sector to increase trade, we agreed to continue opening market access and Indonesia asked for support from the Philippines regarding special safeguard measures for Indonesian coffee products,” said Jokowi in a press statement broadcast on the RTV Malacanang Youtube account, Wednesday (10/1/2024).

Furthermore, Jokowi also expressed his appreciation for the Philippines’ trust in Indonesian BUMN in building important infrastructure in the Philippines. Apart from that, Jokowi also emphasized the importance of strengthening and uniting the centrality of ASEAN which continues to adhere to the principles of international law.

“I also appreciate the Philippines’ trust in Indonesian BUMN in building important infrastructure in the Philippines and it is important to speed up the groundbreaking of the Commuter Railway Project,” he explained.

Jokowi asked the Philippines to immediately start construction of the North-South Commuter Railway Project. There are two Indonesian BUMNs participating in the project.

“The President also expressed his appreciation for the Philippines’ trust in Indonesian BUMN to contribute to the development of important infrastructure in the Philippines and encourage the acceleration of the groundbreaking of the North-South Commuter Railway Project,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi in a statement on the official website, Wednesday (10/1/2024 ).

Please note that there are two project contracts won by a joint venture between two Indonesian state-owned companies, namely PT Adhi Karya – PT PP Joint Venture. The announcement of the winner of the first project worth 11.672 billion Pesos or IDR 3.2 trillion was issued on February 17, 2023. Meanwhile, the announcement of the winner of the second project worth 20.92 billion Pesos or around IDR 5.7 trillion was issued on June 26, 2023, so that the total value is almost IDR 9 Trillion.

It is hoped that this cooperation can also contribute to economic growth, job creation and investment attraction, as well as increasing collaborative efforts between the two countries.

January 10, 2024, detikFinance

(https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-7133895/jokowi-temui-bongbong-marcos-sepakat-amankan-perdagangan-kopi-ri)

(https://finance.detik.com/infrastruktur/d-7134601/temui-presiden-filipina-jokowi-minta-proyek-kereta-bumn-segera-groundbreaking)

Currently PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) is one of the largest integrated shipping and marine companies in Southeast Asia. This company runs a shipping business, shipping services, ports and services, as well as logistics and storage.

PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) brought in two new tankers made by Hyundai, South Korea. The tanker is specifically for transporting LPG and ammonia cargo. PIS Main Director, Yoki Firnandi, revealed the reason for bringing in two new tankers in the form of Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGC). He sees the potential for the LPG and ammonia transportation business as having great potential. “This is the largest LPG tanker in the world. The price is US$ 110 million each. The area is about 1.5 times the size of a football field,” he said.

World LPG trade volume is projected to grow 13 percent in the next 5 years. Meanwhile, LPG imports from four large countries in Asia, namely China, Japan, South Korea and India are projected to increase by 35.4 percent in 2028, from 68.7 million tons to 98.31 million tons.

In Indonesia itself, demand for LPG for household needs will increase by an average of 3.9 percent per year until 2030. Meanwhile for ammonia, trade volume is projected to increase by an average of 22.5 percent per year until 2028. This is due to the increase in the need for ammonia for low carbon fuel.

These conditions and opportunities made PIS bring in two new tankers carrying LPG and ammonia. The two tankers imported by Pertamina were named VLGC Pertamina Gas Tulip and VLGC Pertamina Gas Bergenia. So, these two tankers are also a development of the PIS business for transporting green fuel.

To procure these two tankers, PIS collaborated with BGN International, which is one of the world’s largest LPG trading companies headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The two tankers are owned by two companies with a 50:50 share under the umbrella of one company called PIS Polaris Plc. The price of these tankers is US$ 110 million each, with a carrying capacity of 91,000 cubic meters each.

PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) currently operates on more than 50 international routes. This logistics subholding from PT Pertamina (Persero) has around 97 of its own tankers and operates more than 300 vessels for national and international business.

January 9, 2024, CNBC Indonesia

(https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20240109145458-4-504152/ekspansi-pertamina-shipping-tambah-2-tanker-raksasa-lpg-amonia)