President Nguyen Xuan Phuc is scheduled to lead a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam on a State visit to Indonesia from December 21 to 23 at the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, VNA citied the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc. Photo: VNA

In particular, this is also the first state visit of Vietnam's president to Indonesia after 9 years and in the context that the two countries look forward to the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a strategic partnership.

It is expected that during the visit, President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will hold talks with the Indonesian President, meet leaders of the Indonesian National Assembly, meet with the ASEAN Secretary-General and representatives of a number of large Indonesian enterprises.

The president will also visit the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia, meet and talk with the Vietnamese community in the host country.

Indonesia is the first country in Southeast Asia to establish diplomatic relations with Vietnam. To date, Vietnam is Indonesia's only strategic partner in the region.

Talking with VNA's correspondent in Jakarta ahead of President Phuc’s state visit to Indonesia, Vice Chairwoman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Shinta Widjaja Kamdani, said historically, the two countries have very strong bilateral ties, with many operations, especially on the economic side.

The Kadin, as an umbrella of businesses in Indonesia, has many times facilitated many business forums as well as delegations coming from the two countries.

Recalling that two-way trade hit a record USD 11.5 billion in 2021, she said actually, the number is still very small compared to the potential that they could have. She expressed belief that the target to reach USD 15 billion in 2028 could be taken.

“There's still so much work to be done in order to optimise the number, especially as far as we're both part of ASEAN. And we've seen many opportunities from both sides, whether Vietnam to Indonesia, or Indonesia to Vietnam”, she said.

“The two leaders have very strong, concrete deliverables that they expect things, they both are action-oriented, so really want to get things done. And we've seen certain sectors of cooperation, which is very good, because we're not going just a general trade, but also how to focus on certain sectors that we can create partnership”.

According to the Chair of B20 Indonesia, Indonesia is a halal hub for the region and can definitely expand to go into the Vietnamese market to meet demand there. The two countries also hold potential of cooperation in fisheries and renewable energy.

“We need to push more into renewable and focus on really delivering on the Net Zero target that also globally, both countries needs to achieve. So the energy transition will encourage more renewable energy sector investment," she said.

Naval officers of Vietnam and Indonesia pose for a joint photo at the exercise opening ceremony on August 30. Photo: VNA

She said the two countries’ leaders talked about infrastructure construction. Indonesia has many State-owned enterprises while opportunities in Vietnam are aplenty. Indonesia is still expanding a lot on infrastructure and building up infrastructure all over the country.

In her opinion, digital transformation undergone by the two countries also creates a lot of opportunities. Many of tech start-ups from both countries have been blooming. A lot of start-ups expand and invest in Vietnam, like GoJeck.

“Both nations also have similar demand in terms of consumer base. At the beginning, what's important is creating the awareness. This is why Kadin is facilitating in setting up specific working groups, because we need the B2B to enhance more, not just the big corporation, not just the state owned enterprises, but also companies who are wanting to expand. This is the easiest, because we are neighbors”, she said.

She added that Indonesia has learned from Vietnam how to bring in investors, saying that Vietnam has been very open in terms of leaving red carpet and Indonesia is doing the same thing.

In conclusion, she said the two countries’ businesses have similarities and could develop more by learning and capacity building from each other.

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