A delegation of Indonesian government officials and businessmen recently met with their counterparts in the Philippines to talk about cooperation in trade and investments between the two countries.
The meeting was held in Manila days before Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. landed in Indonesia for his first official state visit, and ahead of the Business 20 (B20) Indonesia, the official G20 dialogue forum with the global business community, which will be held in Jakarta in November.
The Indonesian delegation was headed by Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment.
Luhut was joined by Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) commissioner and one of the country’s leading entrepreneurs and startup investor Pandu Patria Sjahrir.
Jodi Mahardi, Deputy Coordinating Minister for Maritime Resources, and Moch Firman Hidayat joined the Indonesian delegation in a meeting with top Philippine businessmen, including Carlos Aboitiz, Chief Corporate Services Officer at Aboitiz Power, Jaime Alfonso Zobel of Ayala Corporation, Norman and Francis Wee of W Group, and Injap Sia, Chairman of DoubleDragon Properties, also joined the roundtable meeting with their Indonesian counterparts.
The meeting delved into the possible areas for cooperation for Indonesian and Philippine entrepreneurs, especially in the areas of technology, energy, and healthcare, Sjahrir said.
Sjahrir is the founding partner of venture capital investor AC Ventures and managing partner of Indies Capital. He also serves as a board member of superapp Gojek and Vice President of PT TBS Energy Utama Tbk., a publicly listed energy company in Indonesia.
Sjahrir said he wants to work with business leaders in the Philippines. He also invited them to the B20 Indonesia, which will be held from November 13 to 14.
B20 Indonesia is committed to bringing together G20 business communities under one accord to recover stronger towards an inclusive, resilient, and collaborative global economic growth, according to the forum’s chairman, Shinta Widjaja Kamdani.
The B20 aims to deliver concrete actionable policy recommendations on priorities by each rotating presidency to spur economic growth and development, according to its primer.
The meeting between Indonesian and Philippine government officials and businessmen took place days before President Marcos landed in Indonesia for his first state visit.
Marcos met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Monday in a bilateral meeting at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java. It was during the meeting that the two governments signed four pacts on defense cooperation, cultural cooperation, creative economy, and a plan of action for bilateral cooperation.
Marcos expressed confidence that the four agreements signed between the Philippines and Indonesia will benefit not just the two countries but the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.