Por: kekepana.com
Did you realize that the Jakarta metropolitan area is the world’s 4th largest, sporting more than 22 million people? Or that Indonesia is the world’s 18th largest economy? Indonesia’s economy has also stayed rather robust during the last few years of economic weakness, and some 60 million people are positioned to enter the ranks of the middle class in the next decade. Yet the country is only the #32 destination for U.S. exports, signaling that there may be room for improvement.
These were some of the points made at a Honolulu workshop last week, part of a series about doing business with the APEC economies staged by the Hawaii Pacific Export Council, the U.S. Commercial Service and a host of local and state agencies. A special sponsor was the newly formed Hawaii Indonesia Chamber of Commerce (HICHAM). The primary speaker was Michael Hogge, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s desk officer for Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei. Michael is temporarily in Honolulu to help get ready for next month’s APEC summit. Amin Leiman, president of HICHAM, and David Day, HICHAM’s chairman, also chimed in.