SBM ITB in collaboration with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Indonesia held an International Conference titled ‘A New Chapter of Korea-Indonesia Trade and Investment Relations’ early this month in Jakarta. “We look forward to further strengthening relations and improving trading cooperation between the two countries, ” stated the Korean Ambassador to Indonesia, HE Kim Chang-beom in his opening speech (1/10/2019).
“Korea is special to SBM ITB. For the past five years, we have been pleased to have 15 undergraduate and postgraduate students from Korea. Some of those students work for renowned companies in Korea and they wish to learn about doing business in Indonesia,” the Founder and Chairman of School Advisory Council, Prof Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, told the participants.
According to Professor Emeritus, Seoul National University, Professor Taeho Bark, “Korea needed to focus more on its economic relations and cooperation with Indonesia since Indonesia is the largest country, accounting for 40% of the total population and economy in Southeast Asia. Cooperation with Indonesia in 3 sectors is crucial. Those sectors include infrastructure development, industrial advancement, and financial cooperation,” said the Former Trade Minister of Korea.
He continued to explain that Korea is the 4th largest FDI country in Indonesia with total cumulative investment per 2018 reaching $15.7 billion. The number of Korean firms operating in Indonesia has also been increasing since 2016 with 2,000 companies with metal machinery as the major industry ($ 6.5 billion) followed by electric gas water supply ($ 1.4 billion) and rubber plastic (0.7 billion). “More Korean companies are recently considering their investment in Indonesia,” told Bark.