Local traders recruited in bid to strengthen ties with Beijing
Local traders recruited in bid to strengthen ties with Beijing
JAKARTA (JP): While expecting an increase in trade ties with
Beijing and other cities in China, the Jakarta chapter of the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin Jaya) will
invite traders from Glodok and Mangga Dua in West Jakarta to take
part in a series of business trips to the world's most populated
country.
"We'll invite the Glodok and Mangga Dua traders to take part
in our upcoming trips to Beijing and other Chinese cities," Kadin
Jaya's chairman Pungky Bambang Purwadi said on Saturday.
Glodok and Mangga Dua subdistricts are homes to thousands of
Chinese Indonesians, mostly traders of various kinds of goods and
services. Both are part of Jakarta's Chinatown, located in
downtown Kota in West Jakarta.
Pungky said Kadin Jaya, which had set up business ties with
the chambers of commerce in the cities of Beijing, Foshan and
Hubei since 1990, was planning to improve its trade relations by
sending a Jakarta business delegation every two months.
Pungky expected that the business delegations would make full
use of the great business opportunities in China, with such a
huge market potential of more than 1 billion people, especially
in Beijing and other big cities in China.
Besides the West Jakarta traders, Kadin Jaya would also invite
cooperatives to join the delegations, he said.
Head of Kadin Jaya's China Relations commission Johan Susanto
said the West Jakarta traders were expected to become importers
of China's goods, such as light machinery and equipment.
"I'm sure that they have already established trade ties with
China, but we'll improve upon them," he said.
He said that with the strengthening of business relations,
Chinese businesspeople would directly invest here, a move that
would make their goods become competitive.
Meanwhile, the cooperatives were expected to export raw
materials, such as food, consumers goods, cement and fertilizers
which were needed by China, Johan said.
Hopes
Pungky said improved trade ties with China would expectedly
bring home some US$80 billion in funds owned by Chinese
Indonesian businessmen and currently parked overseas.
"I heard that some $20 billion of the funds have returned to
the country following the improving security and political
stability under the leadership of President Abdurrahman Wahid,"
he said.
He predicted that some $40 billion, which fled the country
after mass riots in May last year, would also return to the
country following the improvements in the political and economic
situation.
He admitted that the plan to increase trade ties with China
was inspired by President Abdurrahman's earlier statement that he
would increase ties with China.
Pungky expressed hope that members of Kadin Jaya could be
included in President Abdurrahman's delegation in a visit to
China in the future.
The trade figures between China and Indonesia amounted to a
total of $962.19 million in the first three months of this year,
showing a 25% increase in the same period of last year which
reached $766.52 million.
Indonesia's exports to China reached $676.99 million from
January to March this year, while the country' imports from China
totaled $234,23 million in the same period this year. (jun)