British trade minister visits Indonesia

Image by Anirudh Koul via Flickr

British Trade, Investment and Business Minister Lord Davies held talks in Indonesia Wednesday to encourage greater trade cooperation and more open markets.
“We have identified this country as a high-growth market and one
that has potential for UK exporters,” Davies said at a press
conference after meeting his Indonesian counterpart, Mari Pangestu.
“We want to encourage Indonesian businesses to export more of
their products to the UK. We see huge opportunity for cooperation.”
He said open markets were the key to prosperity and urged
Indonesia to lower barriers for foreign goods.
“Indonesia has to make it easier for businesses to get their
products to the market,” he said.
Pangestu said Indonesia was committed to “de-bottlenecking” –
the local buzzword for cutting red tape to spur investment.
Britain is interested in greater participation in Indonesia’s
infrastructure and services sectors, she added.
Foreign direct investment in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest
economy, amounted to 14.87 billion dollars in 2008, compared to
10.30 billion the year earlier.
Jakarta has predicted economic growth of 4.0-4.5 percent this
year, third only to China and India in the G20 club of rich and
major developing countries.