We’ve had a very exciting few weeks at the UK-ASEAN Business Council (UKABC), with the end of October seeing us working on the State Visit to the UK of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The State Visit provided us with a great opportunity to help UK business to really engage with Indonesia, one of the world’s most thriving economies. It is currently the 18th largest economy in the world, projected to be one of the top 10 economies in 2020 and possibly in the top 7 by 2030; a great example of growing prosperity in ASEAN and presents excellent business opportunities now and in the future for UK businesses.
As well as spending time with the Queen and other members of the Royal Family, President Yudhoyono met with the Prime Minister at Downing Street for constructive discussions on increasing UK-Indonesian trade and investment and reducing barriers to trade.
Importantly for us at the UKABC, the visit enabled UK businesses to meet with senior representatives of major Indonesian businesses across a range of sectors, including Advanced Engineering, Education, Energy, Finance, ICT and infrastructure.
In partnership with and working alongside the UKTI, a programme of business events was produced to promote bilateral corporation between the UK and Indonesian businesses: ‘The President of the Republic of Indonesia Business Events Programme’, sponsored by BP, Fluor, HSBC, Jardines, Prudential and Standard Chartered, including:
Business Connections Event, 31 October 2012, The Dorchester, London, the Indonesian Business Delegate site visit, 1 November, London Stock Exchange and The President of the Republic of Indonesia Business Forum Event, 2 November, St. James’s Palace
The programme saw the UKABC and UKTI host general discussions on the UK and Indonesian business opportunities, and facilitated a number of networking sessions. From feedback we have received, I am sure many participants have created new business leads; we understand it has already led to new business relationships being formed between Indonesian and UK business and many UK businesses intend to start and/or increase their investment in Indonesia
Alongside these events, the UK government, represented by Minister of Culture, Communications and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey, agreed to cooperate withIndonesiato develop capacity in human resources and creative fields such as music, film, fashion, architecture, design, cuisine and others.
Working on the President of the Republic of Indonesia State Visit was a hugely enjoyable experience for us, and we felt privileged to have been involved in working on such an important event for the UK and Indonesia, and of course to help support UK businesses with an interest in doing business in ASEAN.
Find out more about the work of the UK-ASEAN Business Council here
2 comments
Comment by Jennifer Hardi posted on
Glad to see this positive collaboration between UK and Indonesia. I hope this continues on and expanding to include environment and sustainability collaboration.
Comment by Jennifer Hardi posted on
Glad to see this positive collaboration between UK and Indonesia. I hope this continues on and expanding to include environment and sustainability collaboration.