IABC most pluralistic of all chambers
IABC most pluralistic of all chambers
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
What makes the Indonesia-Australia Business Council (IABC)
unique compared to other chambers of commerce in the country?
"The IABC is the only chamber in Jakarta with a membership
that is quite equal (in number) between Australians and
Indonesians. It is 45 percent Indonesians, 45 percent Australians
and 10 percent other nationalities," IABC president Noke Kiroyan
told The Jakarta Post.
Most chambers usually have single nationality membership and
are representing their organization in their respective
countries.
Whereas IABC is a single entity formed in 1989 when Auscham,
the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta, was merged with
the Indonesia-Australia Companies Cooperation Council (DKSPIA).
"Therefore we have a more plural organization," said Noke, who
is also a non-executive chairman of Australian-based giant mining
firm Rio Tinto in Indonesia.
According to IABC executive director Vic Halim, the chamber's
pluralism has attracted other nationalities to join due to the
breadth of the network.
"We have the widest networking as a chamber in Jakarta," Vic
said at IABC's secretariat on the 11th floor of the World Trade
Center on Jend. Sudirman Kav. 29-31, in Central Jakarta.
He added that an IABC's members gathering lured 250
participants on average per event, while the last one in July
attracted 340 businessmen.
IABC has some 300 members -- both companies and individuals --
in Jakarta, while the organization's representative offices in
Semarang in Central Java and Surabaya in East Java have some 120
members, Vic said.
Among the members are mining firms Rio Tinto, Adaro and BHP;
construction firms Leighton, Petrosea, Theiss; manufacturing
companies BlueScope Steel, wooden structural component maker
Corinthian; ANZ Panin Bank and Bank Commonwealth.
The IABC has the mission to enhance bilateral business links
and foster friendship between the respective business
communities; to communicate investment and business opportunities
in the two countries and to provide a forum to accommodate all
types of business.
As well as serving as a lobby group to further the business
interests of its members it serves as a consultative body to
government, industrial sectors and the Chamber of Commerce and
Industry and is building a nationwide organization by
establishing branches in major cities throughout the country.
Members receive information via the IABC Newsletter and via
regular national magazines or newsletters advertising local
activities as well as through its website www.iabc.or.id.
Some of the grouping's most popular events are the IABC
luncheons held regularly at the Mercantile Athletic Club at which
a guest speaker is usually the highlight of the meeting.
A major function the organization hosts is the Annual Business
Conference held alternately in Australia and Indonesia, with each
conference featuring senior government ministers of both
countries and several hundred businesspeople.
Moreover, IABC has a sister organization in the Australia
Indonesia Business Council (AIBC) based in Melbourne.
Both organizations complement each other in building bilateral
business relationships for their respective members.