Courtesy: InvestorTrust
JAKARTA, investortrust.id – After being inactive during the COVID-19 pandemic, a platform that has brought together Indian and Indonesian business people since 1977, IndCham, was reactivated in 2024. IndCham has been revitalized with a lotus flower logo symbolizing the development of businesses that continue to grow and advance in both countries.
The vision behind IndCham is to be the link between increased trade and a true two-way investment, supporting large-scale investment and networking opportunities, fostering business between both countries.
The launch of Indcham was held through the Indcham Business Seminar 2024 inviting Indian Ambassador to Indonesia HE Sandeep Chakravorty, President Director of PT indika Energy Tbk and Chairman of Kadin Indonesia M Arsjad Rasjid.
In his presentation, Arsjad highlighted India and Indonesia’s close cultural and political ties. The relationship between the two countries traces back to a long history and shared identity, represented in the Ramayana and Mahabharata stories. India and Indonesia are connected through their common struggle against colonialism and shared values in pursuit of achieving self-sufficiency and independence.
Furthermore, he emphasized the similarities between the two nations that share the same vision to become high-income countries within the next 25 years.
“The IMF estimates that Indonesia’s economy will grow by 5% and India’s by 7%, making Indonesia and India the epicenter of global growth after the United States and China. Given our current situation, with a rapidly growing economy and a young demographic, we also share the same vision of becoming a high-income country within 25 years, with Indonesia’s vision of a Golden Indonesia 2045 and India’s vision of 2047,” he said at the IndCham Business Seminar 2024 in Jakarta, Friday (2/8/2024).
Through the revitalization of the India Indonesia Chamber of Commerce, he believes IndCham will become an important platform in representing the interests and voices of the private sector in both India and Indonesia.
On the same occasion, the Indian Ambassador to Indonesia, Sandeep Chakravorty also highlighted India’s role as the third largest trading partner for Indonesia, highlighting the huge potential of Indonesia-India trade. The Ambassador underlined a number of key factors in his remarks.
He noted how 80 or more Indian companies have headquarters in Indonesia, in addition to the Indian diaspora companies that have come to Indonesia. There has also been an increase in the number of Indian tourists coming to Indonesia, greatly influencing the Indonesian economy.
“Bali has changed completely. Last year we had more than 650,000 Indian tourists. This year we may have 1 million Indian tourists,” he said.
Going forward, he hopes that after the election of President Prabowo, there will be an increased interest in deepening relations with India. The Ambassador also expressed his appreciation to the board who founded Indcham and the members who continue the initiative today.
According to the Ambassador, the primary purpose of IndCham is to provide a platform for members to organize agendas or interests according to their respective needs. Today, the growing number of start-up, fintech and finance businesses require a chamber to collaborate with.
“The relationship structure has changed so this chamber has been relaunched with new member’s new energy, new vision and with a new direction,” he told investortrust.id.
“So this will be a member-driven agenda, not imposed by anyone. And then it becomes a big partner of the Embassy as well because there are limits to what the embassy can do. So, there is a strong chamber standing next to the embassy, both here the Indian Embassy in Jakarta and the Indonesian Embassy,” he concluded.