On August 18th, Ambassador Xiao Qian attended the Webinar “Riding Ups and Downs: Hong Kong-Indonesia Partnership” upon invitation and delivered a speech at its Welcome and Opening Session. The webinar is organized by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau(CEDB) of the HKSAR and the Consulate General of Indonesia in Hong Kong. Chief Executive of the HKSAR Mrs. Carrie Lam, Vice Foreign Minister of Indonesia Mr. Mahendra Siregar and Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in the HKSAR Mr. Xie Feng also attended and spoke at the Welcome and Opening Session.

In his speech, Ambassador Xiao said that China and Indonesia are good neighbors across the sea. This year marks the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic ties. Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping and President Joko Widodo, the two countries have been synergizing Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Global Maritime Fulcrum Strategy. Exchanges and cooperation in various areas are deepening and expanding, and the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership extending. The BRI flagship project Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway is making day-to-day progress, and cooperation on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Corridors is well underway. China remains the biggest trading partner of Indonesia for many years. In the first half of this year, withstanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral trade reached 35.5 billion USD, leveled with the same time period of last year, and China’s investment to Indonesia grew to 2.4 billion USD against bleak global backdrop, making 1/6 of total FDI in Indonesia. Today, more than 1000 Chinese companies have invested in Indonesia’s transportation, telecommunication, oil and gas, power plants, mineral processing, digital economy, etc. Economic and Trade Co-operation Zone (ETZ) is becoming modus operandi.

Ambassador Xiao pointed out that, Hong Kong and Indonesia enjoy traditional friendship. Hong Kong has long been the bridge and belt between China’s mainland and Indonesia. Chief Executive Mrs Carrie Lam’s visit to Indonesia in 2018 and President Joko Widodo’s visit to Hong Kong in 2017 fully demonstrated that both sides attach importance to their relations and cooperation. In the first half of this year, Hong Kong’s investment to Indonesia reached 1.8 billion USD, the third biggest among sources of FDI. About 180,000 Indonesians are living and working in Hong Kong, making contribution to Hong Kong’s development and prosperity.

Ambassador Xiao reiterated that The Chinese central government fully supports Hong Kong’s role in China’s overall national development and in building the BRI. Indonesia is where President Xi Jinping first launched the “21st Century Maritime Silkroad”, and the momentum of Indonesia’s fast development remains strong. The BRI cooperation between China and Indonesia enjoys great potential and bright prospects. With the development of the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macau Greater Bay Area, and the enaction of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, Hong Kong is now endowed with golden opportunities of making yet again remarkable achievements. Hong Kong enjoys unique advantages as a global financial, shipping and trade center, and competitive edge in legal affairs, management, R&D and digital economy. As Indonesia is upgrading its economy and the China-Indonesia relationship is fast developing, there is confidence that Hong Kong will seize the opportunities, fully explore its competitive edges, and further deepen its cooperation with Indonesia, so as to promote the common development of the two sides and make greater contribution to the China-Indonesia overall relationship. The Chinese Embassy in Indonesia will continue to provide the utmost support and facilitation in this endeavour.

The Webinar serves as a platform for participants to share experiences and explore business opportunities in order to promote economic and trade exchanges between Hong Kong and Indonesia. Also attended the meeting were representatives from the respective government departments in charge, chambers of commerce, legal sector and businesses from the two places. Discussion and exchanges were held over how to foster and strengthen partnerships on trade, investment, professional and technological cooperation. In addition, representatives from Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones (ETCZs) with investment from China’s mainland, namely the China-Indoneisa ETCZ and the CFLD International-Karawang New Industry City, gave presentations on their development in Indonesia and joined the Q&A session.