Bali summit attracts huge interest

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

About 1,000 businessmen from ASEAN countries, as well as Japan, China, India and South Korea are expected to attend the first ASEAN Business and Investment Summit on the popular resort island of Bali on from Oct. 5 to Oct. 7, according to the organizer.

The event will be held in conjunction with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders summit. Heads of government from Japan, China, South Korea and India are expected to attend both summits.

Chairman of the organizing committee Tanri Abeng said the business and investment summit was expected to help boost investment and trade activities among the region's 500 million people. Southeast Asia has a combined gross domestic product of about US$700 billion.

"There will be a lot of business discussions and hopefully some transactions," he told The Jakarta Post in an interview on Wednesday.

Tanri said the summit would not only consist of a dialogue forum between businesses and government leaders, but also include a "business matching" forum where businesspeople could develop networks and possibly make business transactions.

Meetings and discussions will be organized around seven industry areas considered by the committee as the most attractive (see box).

Tanri hoped local business leaders could take advantage of the program to develop new networks.

"State-owned companies will also be encouraged to participate to promote their products or services, and hopefully could even attract new investment in their particular sectors."

Tanri said the committee had invited 50 of Indonesia's most attractive regencies to participate in the event where they can present business opportunities in their respective regions.

Box

ASEAN groupings for seven industry sectors

1. Agriculture, plantations, food processing, fisheries, timber and wood products 2. Infrastructure, energy, mining, industrial tools and heavy equipment, transportation, chemicals, and plastics 3. Finance, banking, property 4. Logistics, tourism, trade 5. Education, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, herbal medicines 6. Electronics, information technology and telecommunications 7. Consumer products, textiles, garments, shoes, jewelry