Agribusiness, energy and business tourism have the greatest prospects for cooperation between the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Indonesia. However, their development is hindered by the lack of comprehensive information on business opportunities. This was the opinion of the participants in the EAEU–Indonesia Business Breakfast, which took place as part of the second Eurasian Economic Forum.
KEY CONCLUSIONS
Agribusiness potential in the EAEU–Indonesia cooperation needs support
“We need to maintain cooperation with Russia and Belarus. For these two countries, Indonesia is an important importer of potassium fertilisers. It is a very important product for the development of our agriculture. We have a great demand for this product. We need to strengthen ties in this area and cooperate further in agriculture and in the supply of fertilizers,” Jose Antonio Morato Tavares, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
“We can develop good business interaction between Indonesia and Russia. <...> Now we need a very large amount of fertilizers because we produce a lot of agricultural products. We need potash fertilisers,” Musdhalifah Machmud, Deputy Minister for Food and Agribusiness of the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
“Interaction between the city of Manado and Russia is possible in trade, tourism and infrastructure, including industry, agriculture and education. <...> Our region also has great potential to develop agriculture. <...> We produce raw coconut oil. We also produce raw coconut husks and peels. We have palm oil factories, <...> various fishery facilities, as well as production of spices, including exotic ones,” Andrei Angouw, Regent of the Manado region, North Sulawesi Province of the Republic of Indonesia.
“Our business is interested in relations with Indonesian entrepreneurs, including the ones involving Indonesian know-hows and materials. This is exactly one of the tasks to form a complete economic model [of cooperation, – Ed.] between Russian and Indonesian business,” Alexey Fursin, Head of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Development Department of Moscow.
PROBLEMS
Lack of information on mutual trade opportunities hinders development of business projects
“Perhaps the most important issue is overcoming the lack of information that exists between our sides regarding the economy and opportunities for mutual trade. <...> Now there is a lack of information about producers from Russia who want to sell grain to consumers in Indonesia at an attractive price,” Alexander Popov, Chairman, MCCI Commission for Foreign Economic Cooperation with Partners in Indonesia.
“The information gap, the lack of information, is an extremely important and complex problem. We have the potential, but very often we do not have information about what our partners really need. <...> A lot of people, even from countries that have been cooperating with Russia or with our partners from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for a long time, do not always have full information,” Sergey Mikhnevich, Executive Secretary, EAEU Business Council; Managing Director for International Multilateral Cooperation and Integration, Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP).
SOLUTIONS
Businesses from the EAEU and Indonesia need to set up projects in energy and plastic recycling
“We are interested in cooperation with Russia in the field of energy. <...> We are talking about renewable energy, but we will still need fossil fuels in the coming decades. Therefore <...> I suggest that Jakarta should buy Russian oil. We need to work with Russia, to negotiate a mutually acceptable price that we can agree on,” Jose Antonio Morato Tavares, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
“Not only do we recycle plastic, but we can make something useful out of it <...> – diesel, for example. <...> We also see a platform for cooperation between Russia and Indonesia in developing this area,” Alexander Popov, Chairman, MCCI Commission for Foreign Economic Cooperation with Partners in Indonesia.
Business tourism will stimulate cooperation
“We have gotten more tourists form Indonesia. In the first quarter of 2023, the number of travellers from the Asia Pacific region more than doubled. We have a business mission planned for Jakarta this summer. <...> Business tourism is the focus we should be targeting now,” Alina Arutyunova, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Tourism of the City of Moscow.
“One of the missions <...> will soon take 18 Moscow entrepreneurs to Indonesia to present their projects, seek cooperation and close deals,” Alexey Fursin, Head of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Development Department of Moscow.
“We see that the Eurasian [tourism, – Ed.] market is big. We want to expand. <...> We need to have direct flights from other countries to the islands so that we can take advantage of tourist destinations and business opportunities in other regions,” Shana Fatina, President Director, Implementing Agency of Labuan Bajo Flores Tourism Authority.
“Last year, we broke the ground for the House of Indonesia in Etnomir [an ethnographic park and museum near the village of Petrovo, Borovsk District, Kaluga Region, – Ed.]. We are getting all the approvals. We will start construction soon. We are waiting for our future business partners. <...> We want to make sure that not only public, but also private businesses make money there,” Ruslan Bayramov, President, Dialogue of Cultures – United World International Public Charity Fund.
For more information, visit the Roscongress Information and Analytical System roscongress.org.
