April 17, 2023 at 21:06 PM
On Monday (April 17), President Joko Widodo (second from left), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (third from right), Minister of Economic Coordination Erlangka (right) and others visited the Nusandara exhibition area of the Indonesia Pavilion .
[News from our newspaper]On Monday (April 17), President Jokowi unveiled the Indonesia Pavilion at the 2023 Hannover Messe, which covers an area of nearly 3,000 square meters.
Widodo said in his speech: “Welcome to the Indonesian Pavilion, which is designed in the shape of the Indonesian traditional ship, the Pinisi boat. Meet the challenges of the future with a fighting spirit. The Pinisi boat has a compass, It is called the ‘Made in Indonesia 4.0’ roadmap, which is the leader of Indonesia’s transformation. The accelerated transformation of Indonesia’s industry will help the regional economy and global economic growth.”
On Sunday (April 16), President Joko Widodo said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Hannover Messe: “Indonesia is open to investment and cooperation including downstream industries and green economy. From the estimated total investment of 545.3 billion It can be seen from the USD’s downstream roadmap in Indonesia that there are huge investment opportunities and potentials, which are mutually beneficial and win-win.”
President Widodo held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Olaf Scholz at the Lower Saxony Hotel in Hannover, Germany. The President emphasized the importance of achieving equal economic relations between Indonesia-Germany and Indonesia-EU.
According to a press conference of the Presidential Secretariat on Monday (April 17), Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said: “Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly solve the problems that hinder people’s livelihood and well-being, that is, a number of EU regulations. The President also asked Germany to promote the Indonesian – EU Comprehensive Partnership Agreement negotiations.”
Foreign Minister Retno said that in terms of investment, the President welcomes the cooperation of the Indonesian-German Joint Economic and Investment Committee. In addition, the President believes that Germany needs to focus its investments on priority areas in Indonesia, such as export-oriented, renewable energy and downstream industries. Widodo stressed the importance of German investment and technical expertise in supporting Indonesia’s energy transition. The two sides also discussed the implementation of the “Partnership for a Just Energy Transition” agreement.
Foreign Minister Retno said: “The President’s visit has achieved several results. In terms of government-to-government cooperation, the two governments signed two agreements, namely the establishment of a joint forum between the public and private sectors to discuss the promotion of economic and investment cooperation. Joint Statement of Intent for the Joint Economic and Investment Commission. The Ministry of Communications and the German Ministry for Digital Transformation have signed a joint statement of intent for the digital transformation.”
Foreign Minister Retno said that in terms of business-to-business cooperation, the two countries have reached 18 agreements worth about 27.9 trillion rupiah, namely in the fields of sustainable development and energy transformation, investment, innovation and the “Made in Indonesia 4.0 plan”.
President Joko Widodo mentioned Indonesia’s commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development in his speech at the opening ceremony of Hannover Messe 2023. When the European Union introduced anti-deforestation laws, some Indonesian oil palm farmers protested against them.
President Joko Widodo claims this commitment can be seen in the various actions the government has taken to protect the environment. The rate of deforestation has dropped significantly and is the lowest in nearly 20 years. The incidence of forest fires will be reduced by 88%, the world‘s largest 600,000 hectares of mangrove forest protection and restoration will be completed in 2024, and a 30,000 hectares of green industrial park will also be built.
Indonesia intends to source 23% of its energy production from new and renewable energy sources by 2025. It also plans to close all coal-fired power plants by 2050. Ensure people have access to affordable energy.
In early December 2022, the European Union passed anti-deforestation laws aimed at preventing companies from selling coffee, palm oil, soybeans and other deforestation-related commodities to its market, requiring companies to issue a due diligence statement before selling goods to the EU , indicating that its supply chain does not cause deforestation, or face huge fines. Indonesia, Brazil and Colombia are the countries affected by this new regulation. Deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Obtained investment intention of 38.34 trillion dong
Investment Minister Baharir said that on Sunday (April 16), local time, President Joko Widodo held a business meeting with executives from BASF, Ermann and Volkswagen at the Kasten Luisenhof Hotel in Hannover, Germany. BASF has expressed its intention to invest in North Maluku to develop the electric vehicle battery ecosystem, with an investment of approximately US$2.6 billion (approximately 38.34 trillion dong). BASF intends to build a battery precursor factory in cooperation with its French partner ERAMET, and the two companies have committed to start investing by the end of this year.
In addition, PowerCo, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, has invested jointly with Vale Indonesia (INCO), Ford Motor Company of the United States and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Company of China to establish a battery ecosystem in South Sulawesi. In addition, PowerCo will also cooperate with Eramet and Kara Group to develop the battery ecosystem. PowerCo will work with Merdeka Copper (MDKA) to convert nickel ore into battery-grade raw material for production.
He added that the Ministry of Investment will ensure that the investment commitments of the three European companies can be realized before the end of this year, so as to speed up the time for domestic nickel ore downstream materials to be smelted into battery materials.
Previously, with the implementation of the “Inflation Reduction Act” promulgated by the U.S. government in the middle of last year, the chief of staff of the President Murdoko said that the two consortium partners of Indonesian Battery Company (IBC) Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend (CBL) and LG Group LG New Energy is still not sure whether it will continue to fulfill its investment commitment. (cx)