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  Issue Number 175, February 2019
 
In this issue
 
President's Column
NSW Update
QLD Update
VIC Update
WA Update
ICC Arbitration
New tool to assist small and medium Australian businesses grow in Asia
AIBC Member Benefits
Makassar and Bali Tourism Forums 2019
IndoView
 
Events
 

For a list of current events, please click here.

 

 

Phil Turtle
National President

President's Column

Dear Members and Friends,

This week is a truly historic one for relations between Australia and Indonesia, with the signing of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA). This Agreement was first contemplated back in 2007, with a Joint Feasibility Study into an FTA between Indonesia and Australia.

Through much of the intervening time, AIBC has played an active role in supporting the negotiation effort through our founding membership of the Indonesia-Australia Business Partnership Group (IA-BPG), along with ACCI, Ai Group, IABC, KADIN and APINDO. This IA-BPG made two submissions to both Governments jointly, and many of the ideas proposed have found their way into the final Agreement (notably the MoU for the Indonesia-Australia Skills Development Exchange Pilot Project).
 

IA-CEPA signed by Trade Ministers Birmingham and Lukita
 

Along with a number of other AIBC Board members, and AIBC members from a variety of organisations, I was fortunate to participate in the signing ceremony and the associated Business Forum, headed by Indonesia’s Vice President Jusuf Kalla and our respective Trade Ministers, Birmingham and Lukita. This IA-CEPA of course is not just about the people in that room, but is a great opportunity to engage with a wide range of businesses, in both countries, that have not seen opportunities for them to participate in Trade and Investment between Australia and Indonesia as a priority. AIBC looks forward to partnering with Austrade and other key stakeholders in the ‘socialisation’ of IA-CEPA, and in encouraging many to tap into the benefits of this new Agreement.

The full text of the IA-CEPA, with a range of Industry Specific Fact Sheets, is available on DFAT’s IA-CEPA webpage here, and a recent Media Release on IA-CEPA from AIBC can be found here.

With IA-CEPA now signed, we again look forward to joining our colleagues from the Indonesia Australia Business Council for their Conference to be held in Bali 3-5 November. Whilst planning for this Conference remains in the early days, we encourage you to put these dates in your diary.

This past month also has seen the release of a report by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, into Access to free trade agreements by small and medium sized enterprises, and details of the inquiry and the report can be found here. This inquiry reinforced the importance and role of AIBC in the engagement with SME’s so that they might more fully engage with FTA’s and their benefits and mechanisms.

In closing, AIBC is also delighted to announce the continuation in 2019 of our association with Shangri-La and Fairmont Hotels in Jakarta, with attractive corporate rates available for our Members (see below for details).

 

Phil Turtle
National President

NSW Update

 

Roundtable Luncheon with Chris Barnes, Consul General - Surabaya

AIBC NSW, together with DFAT NSW cordially invite you to  a Business Lunch Roundtable with Chris Barnes, Australian Consul General based in Surabaya who will discuss the East Java economy and business opportunities as a result of the March 2019 signing of IA-CEPA.

Chris has extensive Indonesia experience in both the public and private sectors and this will be a great opportunity for our members.

Please click here to register for this event.
 

We would like to take the opportunity of thanking DFAT for hosting this event:

 

AIBC, AIA and AIYA Networking Function

NSW AIBC held its first networking event for the year on February 21st together with AIYA and the Australia Indonesia Association(AIA). It provided an opportunity for each organisation to outline its proposed activities for early 2019 and for Eric de Haas from AIA to present on the  Awards Program. We also look forward to the signing of IA CEPA early in 2019.

We would like to thank the NSW Department of Industry for providing an excellent venue and their assistance with logistics and also our UNSW intern from Praesetya Mulia Business School Jakarta, Mr Nuzilla Asbi for his event support.

 

L-R:  AIBC Chair, Michael Fay, AIA President, Eric de Haas and AIYA President, Nicholas Mark

 

AIBC, AIA and AIYA guests enjoying networking

 

L-R:  Gabriella Rodriguez and Christopher Campbell, AIBC National Corporate member Academies Australasia with AIBC NSW Committee member Don Turner

 

Michael Fay,
NSW Chair

QLD Update

Conference VII of Nadhlatul 'Ulama (NU) Australia-New Zealand

On 16th February, David Widjaja, Vice Chairman of AIBC Queensland had the privilege to be invited to attend ‘High Tea’ at the opening of Conference VII of Nadhlatul ‘Ulama (NU) Australia-New Zealand in Brisbane. NU is the largest Muslim organisation in Indonesia with allegedly over 92 million members dated more than five centuries that promotes spiritual interpretation of Islam that stresses nonviolence, inclusiveness and acceptance of diversities. The High Tea was also attended by Australian dignitaries such as Indonesian Consul General from Sydney, Queensland Police Commissioner, Regional Director of Department of Home Affairs, DFAT and few members of Australian Federal Police. Dr Nora Amath who has received many prestigious awards in Australia was the keynote speaker of this event. She emphasised the importance to have compassion in all phases of our life. KH Ahmad Muwafiq a.k.a Gus Muwafiq who was former personal assistant of KH Abdurrahman Wahid, former President of Republic of Indonesia came all the way from Yogyakarta for this conference. It was wonderful event and congratulations  for NU and the organiser.

David Widjaja, AIBC QLD Vice Chair networking with guests


Paul Martins,
QLD Chair

VIC Update

Welcome for Austrade's new State Director, Dr Frances van Ruth

AIBC VIC's first event for 2019 was a joint AIBC-Austrade Indonesia Briefing.  We were delighted to welcome Austrade’s CEO, Dr Stephanie Fahey, the new Victorian State Director, Dr Frances van Ruth and the General Manager ASEAN and Senior Trade Commissioner Indonesia, Sally-Ann Watts, to present on current opportunities and market developments across a range of sectors. 

We were fortunate to have all three Austrade officials in Melbourne and Sally-Ann was joined via teleconference by her Jakarta colleagues, Chris Bandy, Andrew Barnes and Tim Martins.  This provided members with a unique opportunity to ask questions directly of Austrade’s leadership and the Indonesian team on the ground.  Over 70 members and guests attended and the evening was a great success.  We thank Austrade for their kind facilitation of this collaborative event.

Jared Heath, AIBC VIC Chair welcoming Guests

 

Q & A with the Austrade team

 

Pcitured L-R Mr Ir. Juan Permata Adoe - Indoensian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sally-Ann Watts - Austrade, Dr Stephanie Fahey - Austrade and Sri Moertiningroem - IIPC

 

Jared Heath,
VIC Chair

WA Update

AIBC Networking Event

Corporate Suite at Perth Glory FC vs Brisbane Roar FC

On Saturday evening on 16 February 2019, Perth Glory Football Club took on Indonesian owned, Brisbane Roar Football Club at HBF Park in Perth. The AIBC in WA, together with Pentanet (Perth’s newest local internet provider), hosted our members and non-members in a corporate suite. We enjoyed 3 courses of food, beverages and our guests had the chance to enter an exclusive raffle to win either a signed Glory football or a signed Glory top! We raised $400 for Beyond Blue which was an incredible result thanks to the generosity of Perth Glory and all of our guests who donated.

 

Julia Scott, WA Chair and Robbie Gaspar, AIBC Member, drawing the raffle at half time.

 

Glenn Hunter, Bis (AIBC National Corporate Member), who was the lucky winner of the business card draw.

 

Walter Gomes, Manager Strategic Projects (Asian Business Councils) of the WA Government Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI) speaking to guests.

 

Pictured is Walter Gomes (JTSI), Tim Cornish (Co-founder of Pentanet and AIBC WA Committee Member), Patrick Holywell and Tiffani Makharti (who played hockey for Indonesia in the Asian Games 2018).

 

Julia Scott,
WA Chair

ICC Arbitration

Many members will be aware of different international arbitration frameworks.  Recently, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) published notes to provide guidance on arbitrations conducted under the ICC Rules.  The ICC Notes are extensive and address important considerations including arbitrator independence and impartiality, publication of information, dealing with unmeritorious claims or defences, data protection, time limits and expedition and the make-up of the arbitral tribunal itself.  Importantly, the ICC Notes will vary existing arbitrations agreements that reference the ICC Rules.  Any member who has current contracts that refer to the ICC Rules should consider how the ICC Notes might affect them.  An article explaining the impact of the ICC Notes is available here.

New tool to assist small and medium Australian businesses grow in Asia

Asialink Business, with support from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has recently launched a free online tool to assist small and medium Australian businesses to grow with Asia.


The tool enables businesses to self-assess their readiness to tap into key Asian markets, and provides links to practical and country specific resources to build Asia capabilities.  To view the link, please click here.

AIBC Member Benefits

The Fairmont Jakarta have again kindly offered AIBC Members a corporate rate for bookings received during the 2019 year.  Please click here to obtain the 2019 rates.  Members need to contact Fairmont Reservations quoting AIBC Membership on Reservations.Jakarta@Fairmont.com

 

The Shangri-La have also offered AIBC Members a special rate for 2019.  Shangri-La bookings are made via this link that accesses AIBC Member rates.

 

Makassar and Bali Tourism Forums 2019

The eastern archipelago has some of Indonesia’s most impressivetourism assets. The Government of Indonesia is investing trillions of rupiah in major developments in the region to stimulate tourism as a driver of economic growth. While there are challenges, there are also potentially significant investment and commercial opportunities for Australian business.

The Australian Consulates-General in Bali and Makassar are coordinating efforts to raise awareness of the considerable expertise that Australia has to offer in the tourism development industry. We are also seeking to promote greater insight into tourism development in eastern Indonesia and to identify opportunities for Australian investors in areas such as construction, hotel and restaurant development, the provision of tourism activity services and human resource development and training.

We will be bringing together government, academia, Australian business and NGOs to discuss challenges, explore investment and commercial opportunities and encourage partnerships in the eastern provinces of Indonesia.

The Australian Consulate-General in Makassar will host the Australia-Eastern Indonesia Tourism Forum on 4-5 March 2019 in Makassar.

The Australian Consulate-General in Bali will host an Island Tourism Forum in Lombok on 29-30 April 2019.

Our Fora will provide exciting platforms for connecting Australian tourism industry players with Indonesian counterparts and tourism development decision-makers. See links to our flyers.

For further information email tourism.makassar@dfat.gov.au and media.bali@dfat.gov.au

Register your interest:

Makassar and Bali

IndoView

PT Freeport Indonesia – Divestiture Completion

 

In his latest article, Bill Sullivan of Christian Teo & Partners, looks at the recent completion of the PT Freeport Indonesia divestiture.

"The divestiture of majority ownership of PT Freeport Indonesia was finally completed just before Christmas and thereby brought to an end one of the most contentious and long-running sagas in the history of the local mining industry.

Although the Government has realized an objective ardently sought by the country’s resource nationalists, the Government has actually found itself very much on the defensive.

Is the criticism the Government has had to endure a case of genuine “buyer’s remorse” or just cynical politics?”

To read this article in full, click here.

 

Indonesia Market Update

In their January 2018 edition of “Indonesia Market Update”, Morelink Asia Pacific provide news updates across many key sectors including the Indonesian economy, investment, trade, retail, agrifood, manufacturing, automotive, ICT and infrastructure sectors.

To read this update, click here.

 
 
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