Brazil,
the largest economy in South America, expects to expand its cooperation with
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, as there is still enormous room
for growth in many areas, including agriculture and high-technology industry, a
high-level official says.
Undersecretary-general for Asia of the
Brazilian External Relations Ministry, Maria Edileuza Fontenelle Reis, said
that Brazil wanted to boost bilateral trade and investment in Indonesia, its
key partner in the Southeast Asia region, in the near future as economic
cooperation between the two countries was very much complementary.
"In terms of investment and trade,
prospects are numerous. Our bilateral trade figure is now more than US$3
billion and should reach beyond US$4 billion by year's end. But the dynamism
and dimensions of our economies are way beyond that," she told The Jakarta
Post in an exclusive interview in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Reis is on an official four-day visit to
Indonesia, set to conclude on Wednesday, and leading a business delegation
comprising 17 representatives from the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, trade
promotion department and businessmen from the energy, mining, civil
construction and aviation sectors, such as mining firm Vale and aircraft
producer Embraer.
At 58.73 percent, Vale is the largest
shareholder in PT International Nickel Indonesia that has just been renamed PT
Vale Indonesia.
Reis explained that as one of the world's
largest beef producers, Brazil wanted to export beef to Indonesia. Indonesia is
reportedly seeking alternative sources of cattle and beef imports to reduce
dependency on Australia following a recent suspension of its live cattle exports
due to alleged mistreatment of cattle in local slaughterhouses.
"We've received an Indonesian team to
discuss with our sanitary and phytosanitary authorities about the possibility
of opening the local market to Brazilian beef," she said, adding that exporting
genetic materials for husbandry, re-utilization of degraded soil and investment
in the local biofuel industry were also possibilities.
In the high-technology sector, Brazil is also
looking to raise its exports of airplanes to Indonesia as well as to investing
in the production sector.
"We have already sold 16 aircraft to
Indonesia and we could increase this number. Indonesia is also very much
interested in having some kind of technology-based trade-off, for example the
production of aircraft parts here, and we are considering this
possibility," she said.
Embraer, the world's third-largest airplane
producer after Boeing and Airbus, Reis said, had studied the possibility of
teaming up with Indonesian firms. Apart from that, investment would also continue
in the energy sector with Brazilian firms engaging in building hydropower
plants in Indonesia, she said.
Reis said Brazil was interested not only in
increasing exports and investing in Indonesia, but also to increase imports,
such as fertilizers, textiles and palm oil and further Indonesian investment,
including in infrastructure projects.
She said that Brazil expected to sign a number
of agreements soon, including on trade, in a bid to forge closer cooperation.
The agreements are set to be signed during the
ASEAN Summit in Bali next month, during which a large Brazilian business
mission will be present to explore business opportunities in Indonesia.
Bilateral trade between Brazil, which has a
gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately US$2 trillion and is the world's
seventh-largest economy and fifth in terms of purchasing power, and Indonesia
has grown significantly in recent years.
According to Trade Ministry data, bilateral
trade rose by 185.09 percent to US$3.25 billion in 2010 from US$1.14 billion in
2006.
Indonesia exports natural rubber, crude palm
oil, paper and electronics and imports soybean oil, sugar cane, cotton and iron
from Brazil.
Linda Yulisman
The Jakarta Post
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