Indonesian FM: Joint Efforts Needed for Global Economic Recovery amid Pandemic

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Monday stressed the need for strengthening joint efforts among nations to tackle the global economic downturn due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Retno said towards the end of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has not shown any signs of slowing down as it has already reached 50 million cases globally.

“We have to admit this challenging situation, we have no other choice but to promote cooperation and rebuild trust in multilateralism,” said Retno at the Indonesia-Latin America and the Caribbean (INA-LAC) Business Forum 2020 held virtually on November 9.

She further added that no matter how strong a country is, it will not be able to face the pandemic alone. The pandemic shows the weakness of each country in dealing with these global uncertainties.

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“We must choose to cooperate rather than compete, choose dialogue rather than being competitors, choose to offer mutually beneficial cooperation.” 

Therefore, she said, Indonesia underscored the importance of strengthening cooperation with countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region.

Retno said the two regions need to set a common vision to increase trade flows and boost the economy. There is still room for improvement as Indonesia’s trade with the regions has only reached two percent of the country’s total trade.

Meanwhile, Latin America and the Caribbean’s trade with Indonesia only reached 0.34 percent of its total trade.

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“It means that to promote our economic potential, we must be able to develop new approaches and create breakthroughs,” she said.

She added that Indonesia and the two regions should focus on three things in strengthening cooperation.

First, to create more opportunities in the trade sector between Indonesia and various countries in Latin American and the Caribbean.

Second, INA-LAC must be able to explore opportunities in the digital economy field.
She said that Indonesia is Asia’s largest digital economy market with a value of $130 billion by 2025. Indonesia looks forward to collaboration with the two regions in this field, she said.

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“And third, it is necessary to formalize this INA-LAC business forum,” she said.
The forum also saw the launch of a digital platform that can be accessed via www.inalac.com. This platform provides information on potential trade and investment cooperation between the two regions.

“I hope this will meet the needs of the two regions in boosting the economy through effective and productive cooperation and business interactions,” the minister said.

(Writer: Yohana Artha Uly | Editor: Erlangga Djumena)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/11/09/130125926/pemulihan-ekonomi-di-tengah-pandemi-menlu-retno-perlu-kerja-sama-antarnegara?page=all#page3.