Phil Turtle
National President

President's Column

Dear Members and Friends,

This month Sydney played host to visiting ASEAN Leaders for the historic ASEAN-Australia Special Summit. This major event has made a clear statement about the importance of ASEAN and its constituent nations to Australia, and has cemented Australia’s position alongside our ASEAN neighbours. The Joint Statement of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit: The Sydney Declaration can be read here.

For us, President Jokowi’s support for Australia to be admitted to ASEAN, is a reassuring sign of the strength of our relationship, and the personal bond between our respective Leaders. Whilst there are many barriers to such a move in the short term, it is something to ponder for the future.

Also, the commitment expressed by our Leaders for the conclusion of IA-CEPA is encouraging, although there are yet to be clear signs shown that some of the remaining issues are being resolved. Several, including Trade Minister Ciobo, are hopeful of conclusion this year, which of course will be dominated by the lead-up to Indonesia’s 2019 Presidential election.

Prime Minister Turnbull with President Jokowi at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit

(Pic: Dep’t of Prime Minister & Cabinet)

The global Trade landscape more broadly is also very dynamic, with TPP11 signed in Chile this month as negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) continue, with Indonesia calling for a united ASEAN front, at the same time a “trade war” between the US and China develops. We live in interesting times.

This month also saw the commencement of pre-posting consultations by Ambassador-designate Gary Quinlan AO, and AIBC is delighted to be part of these in partnership with DFAT. Our next Ambassador is expected to take up residence in Jakarta in mid-April, and AIBC looks forward greatly to working closely with him and our Embassy.

In the background, preparations continue for AIBC’s Biennial Conference in November on the Gold Coast, so once again please look out for further announcements here in AIBCnews, via our AIBC National Twitter account and by following #aibc18.  We hope to see you there.

Phil Turtle
National President

AIBC Biennial Conference 2018

Planning is underway for AIBC’s flagship event for 2018, the AIBC Conference to be held Nov 11-13 at the Surfers Paradise Marriott Resort & Spa, on Queensland’s world famous Gold Coast.

As part of early planning we are keen to hear any suggestions for topical themes and speakers, as well as from organisations keen to partner with us. Full details of sponsorship packages are available upon request.

As you can see from the collected feedback from our last Conference in Perth, the event was a major success, and one we are looking to surpass.

Any enquiries can be directed to president@aibc.com.au

ACT Update

Indonesia Insights: Implications for Australia

The ACT Branch held an event at the National Press Club on 7 March 2018 with the founder of the Center for Indonesian Policy Studies, Rainer Heufers (he also spoke at the ABARES conference on the Policy constraints and needs for a prosperous Indonesian agricultural sector and at the ANU on Indonesia’s anachronistic insistence on food security).

Heufers’ thought provoking presentation was a sombre commentary on the rise of economic nationalism in Indonesia, the power plays by elites leading up to the 2018 regional elections and the 2019 presidential elections and their ongoing impact on the negotiation of free trade agreements.

Despite growth in the economy and exports, interest groups have attempted to stymie reform, thereby limiting the freedom of President Widodo to implement his change agenda.  This has required him to compromise on key policies and to accept second best outcomes in order to survive politically.  The key messages of Heufers were that economic nationalism was being used by powerful interest groups:

• to reduce competition and limit free trade:  Indonesian Government policies like food security, for example, have little to do with ensuring the poor of Indonesia have access to food, than ensuring the vested interests have less competitive pressures and are able to increase prices without alternative goods (ie imported goods) being used as substitutes;
   
• to back certain parties and candidates in the 2018 regional elections and the 2019 Presidential election, to challenge President Widodo and support former General Prabowo Subianto. 

Heufers also noted that President Widodo has been adept at attracting major political parties to his broad coalition (including the ‘Muslim vote’ by being seen with the PKB leadership).  This success of Widodo has been at the expense of Prabowo who increasingly found that he will only be supported by the ultra conservatives who he has decided to court due to the lack of popular support outside his own party and PKS.  Prabowo has also been a strong proponent of economic nationalism for many years.

Economic nationalism and the 2018 and 2019 elections, therefore are likely to impact on the quality and timings of the IA-CEPA and any other FTAs being concluded.

It was noted the challenge for President Widodo is to manage expectations of Indonesian businesses and remind them that trade negotiations involve wins and trade-offs.  Many at the presentation noted that there seems to be a prevailing view in Indonesia that trade negotiations will mean it will get unhindered access to other markets without opening the Indonesian market to foreign competition.

The Australian and Indonesia Governments remain committed to concluding IA-CEPA within the next few months (as noted by President Widodo during the ASEAN-Australia Summit).  Heufers and other commentators, however, think high equality trade agreements are unlikely due to economic nationalism and the upcoming elections.  Of course, IA-CEPA and other FTAs can be concluded quickly if they are not as rigorous and comprehensive as they should.

Tony Mitchener,
ACT Chairman

NT Update

AIBC NT:  International Women's Day Breakfast and Networking Forum

AIBC NT convened a successful breakfast event in Darwin at the Darwin Hilton, attended by 85 people to celebrate International Women’s day .

The event was opened by Bapak Dicky Soerjanatamihardja, Indonesia's newly appointed Consul General for the Northern Territory. Pak Dicky spoke of the importance of the role of women in building strong communities and across business worldwide. Pak Dicky also highlighted the increasing numbers of high level women in Indonesia making their own input into building his country’s future.

Ably MC’d by John Yusuf , former president of Indonesian Students association,  the morning passed with short presentations from Tillie Morgan , founder of AND.M fashion label.  AND.M is a socially-responsible fashion label creating designs with artisan colour and Shauna Mounsey,  founder of Acceleration Partners , a marketing consultancy that assists businesses and NGOs in Australia, Indonesia and the Pacific with communication and marketing strategies to build their brand, secure investors, promote to customers and manage public relations. 

Facilitated by Terry Mills Independent member of Blain , a session followed where both Tillie and Shauna spoke of their experiences in doing business in Indonesia . The main point which came from this discussion time and again was the importance of patiently building relationships with your Indonesian partners.

AIBC Chair Linda Reeves spoke of the history of International Women’s Day dating back to 1909 and its passage through time to the present day . Terry Mills also made comment about the interesting similarities between Carolyn Chisolm of Australia and Kartini of Indonesia and their impact on not only the role of women in our community but also to human rights in general.
 
The event was closed by AIBC Chair Linda Reeves with the next event to be a cocktail event held at Parliament House on 18th May , the day before the Palmerston Indonesian Festival 19th May.

(L-R):  Shauna Mounsey founder Acceleration Partners, Linda Reeves Chair AIBC, Pak Dicky Soerjanatamihardja Consul General Indonesia Consulate NT and Ibu Mira, Tillie founder AND.M, Katrina Fong Lim

Linda Reeves,
NT Chairwoman

QLD Update

Meeting with President and Members of the Chamber of Commerce – Solo, Indonesia:

Hugh Ritchie and David Widjaja met with the President and members of the Solo Chamber of Commerce in Solo to discuss the possibility of introducing AIBC Qld businesses to those of Central Java. Good discussions were had, and we look forward to linking AIBC Qld members to this exciting region in Indonesia.

Dinner with The Hon. Julie Bishop – Minister for Foreign Affairs, Canberra, ACT

Hugh Ritchie joined Julie Bishop and 15 other business people from around the country for a dinner at Parliament House. A very interesting evening, with the growing importance of the relationship with Indonesia being one of the topics of interest for the evening’s conversation.

Lunch with His Excellency Mr. Yohanes Kristiarto Soeryo Legowo at the Royal Palace Restaurant, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 

Fortunate timing placed David Widjaja and myself in the same city as the Indonesian Ambassador to Australia so we were able to catch up for lunch and a couple of hours of very interesting and amusing discussion. We dined in the Palace on dishes favoured by the former Sultans and Royal Family. The Ambassador was extremely supportive of the AIBC and our National Conference in November. Also in attendance was Pak Abdul Wahab Bangkona – Special Advisor to the Minister of Manpower.

Meeting with Mayor Hadi Rudyatmo of Surakarta

David Widjaja and I had a very productive meeting with the Mayor, Vice Mayor and numerous senior officials from the Solo City Government which has led to a follow up visit to Brisbane planed by the Mayor in late April. The hope is to create some momentum in relationships in the education and business space followed by a delegation visit from Solo to the AIBC National Conference. Mayor Rudyatmo seems like a very active leader wanting to build stronger ties with Australia.     

Dinner with Mr. Allaster Cox - Acting Australian Ambassador to Indonesia and Ms. Sally-Ann Watts - Minister Commercial, Senior Trade Commissioner – Austrade, Jakarta

We were very fortunate to be invited to dinner by Allaster and Sally-Ann to discuss the National Conference amongst other topics. Their suggested topics for discussion streams at the conference matched in nicely with what we are already looking at, being the Digital Space, Venture Capital, Education and The Powerhouse Effect (Australia/Indonesia). Once again great support all round for our event on the Gold Coast in November 2018.

Lunch with The Hon. Grace Grace – Education Minister for QLD and the Italian Chamber of Commerce – Brisbane

A great opportunity to support the ICCI and discuss the AIBC with the new Education Minister and numerous businesspeople. Also pictured is Consul Ludovico Carlo Camussi, Italian Consul for Qld and NT. 

AIBC/DFAT Roundtable Discussion with the incoming Australian Ambassador to Indonesia – Mr. Gary Quinlan AO 

On 12th March AIBC (Qld) was asked to organise a number of senior, Indonesian focused businesspeople from both the public and private sector to have a very frank and open discussion with the new Ambassador. Gary (as he wants to be called) is a very experienced and down to earth Diplomat who will make a great and positive impact during his posting. Having already worked for 3 years with Allaster Cox in Canberra, Gary is looking to be a very active Ambassador, advocating the Australian/Indonesian relationship at every opportunity. I think the fact we have a good relationship with the two most senior Diplomats at the Post will be a great bonus for the AIBC and our members. During the meeting Gary wanted to glean as much information (both good and bad) from the assembled group to enable him to best focus his time once he gets into his new role in Jakarta in April. Gary said that he will be very focused on getting out into the regions of Indonesia and to support Australian businesses wherever they might be operating.

AIBC Qld Vice Chair, David Widjaja and The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia – ASEAN Summit – Sydney 

David had a very fruitful albeit busy day on Friday carrying the AIBC Qld flag at the ASEAN Summit. From all reports it sounds like the AIBC was very well represented and the Australian/Indonesian relationship was the hot topic at the Summit.

Hugh Ritchie,
QLD Chairman
 

SA Update

AIBC SA Networking Drinks

The SA branch held a very successful networking event on 27th March at one of Adelaide's famous small bar venues - "55mls" - at 55 Mills Street of course! The event was well attended with around until 15 people in attendance, including a good mix of old and new faces.

AIBC SA Networking Drinks at Bar 55ml
(L-R):  Stephen Baker, Jim McMillan and Kelly Nicholson

Contemporary Issues in the Australia-Indonesia Relationship

The SA branch held a public event on 5 March looking at issues in the Australia-Indonesia relationship. The speakers were two lawyers with lots of Indonesia experience: Professor Tim Lindsey, Professor of Asian Law at the University of Melbourne and recently chair of the Australia-Indonesia Institute, and Nicola Colbran. There was a good attendance: 30 people, plus the speakers.

Nicola spoke about public-private partnerships. These usually include a foreign partner. There are issues about complexity of land acquisition; lack of transparency; differences between national and local regulations; the constitutional requirement re public ownership. HABEMAS has a big list of infrastructure projects.

Prof Lindsey discussed issues in the Australia-Indonesia relationship. Some of the highlights were: The Australian public is hostile and ill-informed about Indonesia. The Indonesian diaspora here is small, one ninth the size of China’s. One third of Aussies have visited Bali, but this does not affect Aussie perceptions of Indonesia. Our reputation is poor in Indonesia, including suspicions of Australia’s ambitions in eastern Indonesia. Australia needs to understand Indonesia better, but Australian Government support for people-to-people links and aid has reduced. The bilateral relationship has broadened, e.g. expanded summitry and more education links. The importance of bilateral ties is often trumped by domestic politics. Expect religion and identity politics to play a larger role in Indonesian politics.

(L-R) Jim McMillan, Nicola Colbran and Professor Tim Lindsey

VIC Update

AIBC roundtable luncheon with Australia’s Ambassador designate to Indonesia, Gary Quinlan AO.

On 26 April, AIBC VIC hosted a roundtable luncheon with Australia's new Ambassador designate to Indonesia together with the Director of the DFAT Victoria State Office, Ms Jenny Bloomfield, and representatives from AsiaLink, Commonwealth Bank, CPA Australia, EMR Capital, Monash University, Newcrest Mining and Nusantara Resources.

Gary Quinlan AO with members of AIBC's Victorian Committee and invited guests.

International Women's Day 2018

AIBC Victoria in collaboration with the other International Chamber House business chambers and councils participated in the third Annual International Women’s Day High Tea, celebrating women’s entrepreneurial spirit in international business. Panellists included Lydia Kahill (Lowy Institute), Holly Ransom (CEO, Emergent) and Sarah Chibnall (H&H Group), with moderator Frank Ribuot (CEO, Ranstad Australia/NSW & India).

With over 450 attending, including various Ambassadors and Consul-Generals, this was a wonderful celebration of women’s success in business and provided an excellent opportunity for networking.  Now an annual fixture, AIBC Victoria looks forward to next year’s event.

Guests enjoying the networking and presentations at the VIC event.

Jared Heath
VIC Chairman

ASEAN - Australia Special Summit Wrap

Multi-Faith Youth Meeting promotes stronger people-to-people ties

The Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull and Indonesian President Joko Widodo met young leaders of diverse faith from Australia and Indonesia on Saturday, as part of the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit.

The Australia-Indonesia Multi-Faith Youth Meeting was inspired by President Widodo’s decision to bring Indonesian students from different faith communities with him during his visit to Sydney to build links with their Australian counterparts. 

The meeting reinforced the strong people-to-people links between Australia and Indonesia and the important role of faith-based exchanges in promoting mutual respect and religious diversity.

Australia’s engagement with Indonesia’s faith communities is part of the fabric of our bilateral relationship, including through the long-standing Muslim Exchange Program which has enabled over 200 young Muslims from Australia and Indonesia to better understand each other’s countries. 

The students were encouraged to continue to develop their friendships and to promote cooperation and understanding between their countries and communities.

IndoView

STARTING MAY 2018, GARUDA INDONESIA WILL INCREASE

PERTH – JAKARTA VV FLIGHT FREQUENCY TO FIVE TIMES PER WEEK

As part of Garuda Indonesia’s support to boost both Indonesia’s and Australia’s tourism industries, as well as the airline’s efforts to strengthen its presence in the international market, especially in Australia, starting 4 May 2018 Garuda Indonesia – the flag carrier of Indonesia-  will increase its Perth-Jakarta vv flight frequency from 4 times per week to 5 times per week.

Garuda Indonesia’s Area Manager for Australia, Dony Widojoko, said that the addition of the Perth – Jakarta vv flight frequency is also one of Garuda Indonesia's initiatives to accommodate the growing demand between the two cities and to increase the flow of tourists between the two countries.

“Australia is one of the fastest growing potential markets for Garuda Indonesia. We hope the additional flight frequency will not only be able to accommodate the increasing number of Australian tourists from Perth to Jakarta and other domestic destinations in Indonesia, but will also create additional connections to other International destinations via Jakarta, such as Amsterdam, Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul”, Dony added.

The additional flight Perth-Jakarta vv flight will be every Friday, departing from Jakarta at 10.25 (Jakarta time) and arriving in Perth at 16.00 (Perth time). Then it will depart from Perth at 17.40 (Perth time), arriving in Jakarta at 21.35 (Jakarta time)

Currently Garuda Indonesia serves as many as 34 weekly flights from Indonesia to Australia covering Jakarta - Melbourne vv (4x a week), Jakarta - Sydney vv (5x a week), Jakarta - Perth (4x a week), Denpasar - Perth (7x a week), Denpasar - Sydney (7x a week) and Denpasar - Melbourne vv (8x a week). All flights are operated by Airbus 330-200 / 300 aircraft with a capacity of 287 seats, except Jakarta - Perth vv currently using Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft with a capacity of 162 seats.

Providing a Lifeline to PLN

In his latest article, Bill Sullivan of Christian Teo & Partners, looks at a range of developments, including in power and coal pricing, aimed at assisting State Owned PLN.

"Indonesia has been trying to find a solution to the financial problems faced by the State Electricity Company, which solution does not involve any cost to the Government.

While finding a solution is clearly very important, the various alternatives being considered by the Government run the risk of further undermining Indonesia’s reputation as a country which respects sanctity of contract and recognizes the importance of legal certainty.”

To read this article in full, click here.
 

Indonesia Market Update

In their February 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.