Indonesia told to invest in Viet Nam to boost trade

August 16, 2017 | 08:59

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Trade Minister Enggartiasto "Enggar" Lukita has urged Indonesian businesspeople to cooperate with Viet Nam to boost trade and investment, instead of competing with the country.

Trade Minister Enggartiasto "Enggar" Lukita. - Photo JP/Stefani Ribka

The cooperation includes investing in Viet Nam to sell more products to countries that Vietnam has free trade agreements (FTA) with, said the ministry at the sixth Indonesia-Viet Nam Joint Commission on Economics, Scientific and Technological Cooperation (JC-ESTC) in Ha Noi over the weekend.

“We need to invest in Viet Nam not only because it has 93.3 million people [third biggest country in terms of population in ASEAN], but also because of the other countries that have bilateral FTAs with Viet Nam,” he said in a press release.

Some Indonesian firms run businesses in Viet Nam’s property, cement and coal sectors while Vietnamese firms are interested in Indonesia’s coal industry.

Indonesia has seen a trade deficit with Viet Nam from 2012 to 2016 with the deepest deficit of US$966.5 million in 2014 before easing to $182.6 million, last year.

Total trade reached $6.2 billion last year, with Indonesia exporting $3 billion, dominated by copper, pepper, ground fruits, coconuts, coal, palm oil and its products.

In the first five months this year, nevertheless, Indonesia has managed to book a trade surplus of $5.1 million. - The Jakarta Post

VNA

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