OBAMA'S VISIT TO BOOST RI, U.S. TRADE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Nov 9 (ANTARA) - The two-day state visit in Indonesia of US President Barack Obama is expected to increase the volume of the two countries' bilateral trade to US$35 billion and to attract US$1 billion  investment to Indonesia.          "Indonesia must use the opportunity to secure ways to improve its economic conditions. The value of their two-way trade has now reached S$20 billion but efforts must be made to raise it to US$35 billion," Chief Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said.          President Obama and his wife Michelle Obama arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday where he was scheduled to meet with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, witness the signing of an Indonesia-US comprehensive partnership agreement, visit Istiqlal Mosque and give a public lecture at the University of Indonesai (UI).          According to People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Chairman  Taufiq Kiemas, President Obama's state visit to Indonesia will benefit the country. "I think, Barack Obama's visit will benefit Indonesia," Taufiq said here Tuesday.         Obama's visit was an opportunity to discuss improvement of economic cooperation with the US with the aim of increasing Indonesia's economic growth, he said.          This is an opportunity that has to be seized. Suryo Bambang Sulistyo, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), said meanwhile that the visit to Indonesia was a chance for both countries to increase their economic ties.          "The visit can give them encouragement. We can utilize the visit to convince business players in the United States that Indonesia is an interesting investment destination," Suryo said.          He said that the Indonesian government and business makers could capitalize on the US president's visit as a promotional means to attract more US investment and offer export products to that country.          With President Barack Obama's visit to the country on Nov 9-10, the Industry Ministry has projected US investment in Indonesia will hit a record high of US$1 billion in the next few years.          "US investment in Indonesia is relatively small compared to that of other Asian countries, such as Japan and South Korea. I hope it could increase following Obama's visit," Industry Minister MS Hidayat said.           He said the government would encourage US companies to invest in heavy-duty equipment and machinery industries. A number of US companies had so far invested in the heavy-duty equipment industry including Caterpillar Inc.           Caterpillar Inc. planned to invest US$500 million in Indonesia next year, he said.           Besides in heavy-duty equipment, the visit to Indonesia is also expected to boost  foreign investment in the renewable energy sources sector. "We expect there will be more transfer of technology for development of renewable energy sources, and investment in the management of  the technology,"  Minister  Hatta Rajasa.          According to Kadin Chairman Suryo Bambang Sulistyo the visit should be utilized to promote investment in the country. "This should be done so that private business players in the United States would give more attention to Indonesia as an interesting investment destination," Suryo said.          Besides, he said, businesspeople at home should also proactive in expanding Indonesian products' market shares in the United States. Indonesia must be smart in expanding its market. It should not merely serve as a market.          In this case, MPR Deputy Chairman Hajrianto Tohari said that Indonesia must be smart so that it would not be manipulated in the economic field by superpowers like the United States and China.          "It should not happen that Indonesia is manipulated by the two countries. We should be able to utilize the meeting and to take the benefit for the national interest," Hajrianto Tohari said.          He said that seeing from the population aspect, the biggest market is China with a population of 1.3 billion, followed by the United States (300 million) and Indonesia 240 million. Indonesia's trade with China now stands at 30 billion US dollars.         Thus, with the visit of Obama, Indonesia must take advantage of it.          Industry Minister MS Hidayat said that the arrival of Obama in Indonesia would boost US investment in Indonesia, particularly processing industrial sector.         "So far, the United States has made investments in oil, gas, mining and natural resources. I hope it would enter into other type of industry, such as heavy equipment industry," the minister said.          Deputy Trade Minister Mahendra Siregar said Obama's visit can be a means of showing Indonesia's ever-fast economic growth. He said that the United States was an important investment source so that the existing relations needed to continuously be improved to attract more investment and to benefit from trade activities.          Therefore, businesses of both nations needed to assess potentials for increased cooperation in the future. The United States is a main export destination for Indonesia. The value of Indonesia's trade with the United States continued to increase in the  2005 - 2008 period before it dropped in 2009.          In 2008, Indonesia-United States two way trade totaled US$20.9 billion which in 2009 dropped to US$17.9 billion. The total trade value of both nations in the January - August 2010 period stood at US$15.6 billion, which were higher than that in the same period in 2009 which stood at US$11.3 billion.          Indonesia has always enjoyed a surplus in its trade with the United States since 2005. The surplus of trade between Indonesia and the United States in 2009 was recorded at US$3.7 billion and in the January - August 2010 period it stood at US$2.8 billion.     (T.A014/H-NG/H-YH) 09-11-2010 23:03: