EDITED TRANSCRIPT OF MIN’S MEDIA WRAP-UP TO LOCAL MEDIA
JAKARTA, 14 FEBRUARY 2018
Min: I had a very good visit, an excellent series of meetings. I came here primarily to view the state of our bilateral relations and I am very glad to say that it is in an excellent state. Singapore continues to be the largest investor in Indonesia. We have been since 2014. In terms of tourist numbers, we are each other’s second largest source of tourists respectively – that means the Singaporeans who travel to Indonesia and Indonesians who travel to Singapore. We also reviewed the projects which had been on the agenda for the Leaders’ Retreat last year. So, in a sense this is in preparation for the next Leaders’ Retreat which is due in Indonesia later this year. On all those projects, things are going well. For instance, Kendal Industrial Park, which both Prime Minister Lee and President Jokowi visited in 2016.
I think there’s been a lot of investor interest. There are now about 36 companies, and investments worth over $600 million have come in. It’s also generated a good number of jobs, at least in the range of 5,000 and more. There’s also ongoing collaboration on developing vocational training, because it’s not enough to just start an industrial park, you also need skilled workers, and especially vocationally trained workers. So we’ve been working with them on that, and that’s good progress.
We also discussed developments in Batam. There have been further changes in the administration of Batam. There have been some welcome changes in their tax regime also. Batam is our nearest neighbour with respect to Indonesia. So clearly, we do want them to succeed and we’ve got investments there as well.
We’ve also reviewed developments on the digital side of the house. In Nongsa Digital Park, our university, our polytechnics are working with their polytechnics there to give people the requisite skills to participate in the new digital economy. Separately, I also had the chance to meet some of the digital entrepreneurs in Jakarta. I think this is a thriving scene and an opportunity for us to connect entrepreneurs both in Singapore and in Jakarta – to exchange ideas, and to look for joint projects. As both our enterprises try to globalise and try to expand, perhaps their first stop should be for a Singaporean company to explore the market in Indonesia. For an Indonesian company going beyond Indonesia, their first stop is in Singapore, and then explore Southeast Asia and beyond. This is another area where there is a lot of scope for collaboration and for mutual benefit.
We also looked at cruise tourism, another topic which the President (Joko Widodo) is very keen on and there have been Singaporean companies that were looking at potential investments in marinas. They’ve already started cruise ships visiting Bali. But ultimately, if you think about cruise tourism, there’s a large series of ports and marinas available in Indonesia and in the Straits of Malacca, including Singapore. If you take this concept further even into the Andaman Sea and all the way through India and to Sri Lanka.
So there are very wide oceans of opportunities in that area. All in all, there are a lot of things we can work on. I think it just illustrates that if we can focus on joint projects which bring mutual benefit, create jobs and opportunities for people, both in Singapore and in Indonesia. This is a very important account for us. So it was a good, very productive visit.
ST (Francis Chan, Bureau Chief, Jakarta): So you mentioned the Leaders Retreat – this is the third one between President Jokowi and PM Lee, tell us why is it important for the leaders of both countries to continue to meet; the kind of setting, and for bilateral relations.
Min: First, it gives the highest level of government, in this case, our top leaders, a chance to meet and discuss things in a relaxed, informal setting; build trust, strengthen the relationship; explore ideas. Second, these Retreats also convey a sense of urgency and timetable for all the civil servants and the private sector involved in these projects because you have to report progress by certain deadlines and we have to move on. As examples, there are two – the negotiations on the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT); and the Double Taxation Agreement. The negotiations will begin certainly for the BIT later this month. But more importantly, it gives a deadline, it gives a timeline for things to be negotiated and for outcomes to be reported. So that also helps to give a certain cadence to these efforts.
CNA (Saifulbahri Ismail – Correspondent in Jakarta): Minister when can we expect the Retreat to be? Third quarter of the year and where?
Minister: Well I think we are both very busy. Singapore is chairing ASEAN. The Indonesian calendar is also very packed. I am not yet able to give you a specific date, but I would imagine somewhere early in the second half of this year would be optimal. But let’s see, as I said, on both sides, that’s a very packed calendar.
ST: Minister, you mentioned earlier on that you had lots of meetings, today and yesterday. You met with leaders of three of the major political parties in Indonesia, ahead of their long election season, which is starting, actually tomorrow. Any key takeaways you can share with us on what their preparations are like, and how ready they are for the elections?
Min: No, we didn’t discuss partisan politics. But what I can say from meeting a range of leaders from all the major political parties here is that there is consensus that the relationship with Singapore is important, worthwhile, and mutually beneficial. And maintaining that consensus is important. They know that we hope that Indonesia remains calm, that the situation remains conducive for investments, and for business. And whilst we have no say, nevertheless it is our hope that they will be able to conduct all these political activities in a safe, stable and quiet way.
Frankly, I am confident that this will be so. Indonesia has made tremendous progress over the past few decades and if you actually take a step back and you look at how it has progressed over the last two decades, or even more, what they have achieved is amazing. And we should congratulate them. Economic development, political maturity, the challenge of dealing with diversity – I think you should not underestimate the enormity of these challenges, and we should give them due credit for the way they have handled these challenges.
CNA: Minister, you mentioned about the Kendal Industrial Park. You know, PM Lee was here in Indonesia, Semarang, and he opened the Kendal Industrial Park. That was close to two years ago? But it’s only 36 companies in an Industrial Park. What’s causing the slow take-up rate, do you think?
Min: No I wouldn’t say it’s slow. In fact, I think it’s made steady progress. The fact is that we have been able to bring companies with real investments and real job creation. The real challenge is not how one park progresses, but up-scaling it, because Indonesia is such a vast country, has such a large population and such diverse demography. So I view each of these as an occasion, an opportunity, to refine the systems; the way they handle investments, the way they make it more business friendly, as a chance for us. Even when we renegotiate bilateral investment treaties or double-taxation agreements, each of this is a learning opportunity and an occasion to upscale these opportunities.
So that they can upscale these opportunities, so that they can ramp this up across the entire country. Sometimes coming from Singapore, it’s not so easy to appreciate the enormity of the challenge. We have 700 square kilometres, 5.5 million people, 3.5 million citizens. This is a country with three time zones, 265 million people, 17,000 islands with many major challenges both in terms of infrastructure and in terms of the skills and qualifications of the workforce. So I don’t think progress has been slow. I think considering the enormity of the challenges, it’s been steady progress. And as I said just now, that’s why the other reason why we are also focused on vocational training and polytechnics is to train the trainers. That’s the only way you can upscale these solutions to meet the challenges that they confront.
CNA: Just one final question from me. When Jokowi met PM Lee in Singapore last year, PM, in his speech, spoke about one more major event to cap the RISING 50 celebrations this year. Do you have any details about that?
Min: No, I don’t have any details, that’s MCCY. But I’ll check on it and get back to you. But all in all it has been a good visit and as I said I am confident that Indonesia will overcome the fundamental challenges, the profound challenges it has faced and we should appreciate how far they have come and really congratulate them for the progress.
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