Indonesian firms looking into stronger ties with city
A delegation representing some of Indonesia’s top companies is pushing to strengthen business ties with Hong Kong, with their prospective plans including opening family offices and investing in sectors such as energy, logistics and transport.
The Employers’ Association of Indonesia revealed the scale on interest yesterday, following a meeting with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, where they discussed creating more opportunities for Indonesian businesses and family firms looking to tap into Hong Kong and mainland markets.
“We see that there is still so much space for improving our trade and investment bilateral ties, and we’ve seen that Indonesia and Hong Kong need to enhance our trade and investment cooperation,” association chairwoman Shinta Widjaja Kamdani told the press after the closed-door meeting.
The association plays a prime role in strategic business cooperation between foreign companies and Indonesian enterprises spanning 34 provincial and 269 district boards.
Kamdani also serves as CEO of Sintesa Group, a firm with a portfolio covering energy services, property, and industrial and consumer products.
“We have discussed a number of opportunities concerning how Hong Kong can be utilised as a hub for family businesses in Indonesia,” she said.
“We are exploring what Hong Kong also has to offer in order to facilitate our entry into Hong Kong and also to mainland China.”
Alongside Kamdani, the 20-strong delegation included 15 business leaders representing big industries such as oil and gas, manufacturing and property.
Kamdani said the meeting with Lee had laid a foundation for future visits, adding that the delegation would head to Shenzhen today.
She stopped short of specifying the scale of any prospective investments, but said talks were at the “beginning stage” as many potentially interested Indonesian firms would be first-time investors in the Hong Kong market.
Kamdani said Indonesian businesses were eyeing sectors such as logistics, transport and energy transition, since Hong Kong’s well-developed infrastructure and Indonesia’s advanced manufacturing provided mutually beneficial opportunities.
Last July, Lee visited Jakarta and signed 15 memorandums of understanding that strengthened ties with Asean countries in fields such as green finance, maritime services, meteorology, aerospace and the promotion of sustainable finance.
Kamdani said many investments were in the pipeline following Lee’s trip, adding that medium- and large-sized Indonesian companies were eager to explore using the city as a gateway to the mainland.
“Our target is really bringing in new players,” she said, adding firms in the country felt encouraged to open family offices in Hong Kong as they saw the city’s value as a financial hub.
Gary Ng, a senior economist at corporate and investment bank Natixis Hong Kong, said Singapore had always shared a stronger tie with Indonesia, adding that Hong Kong was likely to become an alternative hub for some firms that wanted to export products to the mainland market.
But he said it was too early to say whether more direct investment from Indonesia would be injected into the city’s economy, as the delegation was only visiting to learn about the Hong Kong market status quo.