Jakarta - President Joko Widodo together with Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore Teo Chee Hean discussed strengthening bilateral economic cooperation during his meeting at Istana Merdeka, Jakarta "Discussed three focuses of future cooperation, among others in terms of investment because Singapore we know is the biggest in 2016 is as big as 9.2 billion of his investment dollars," Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir was met at the presidential palace, Jakarta on Friday (11/4/2017).

Deputy Prime Minister Teo met President Jokowi at the Merdeka Palace on Friday morning. According to Fachir, there are 41 Singapore-based companies that are in the process of permitting to open a business in Semarang, Central Java, which is expected to absorb 4,000 workers. Until now there are 30 companies from Singapore operating in Semarang with 1,700 workers, added Fachir. The second thing discussed by Jokowi and Teo is the potential for business cooperation in the digital economy to be discussed during the annual meeting of leaders of ASEAN countries in Singapore. "The third is about infrastructure, 'regional development'. Then the President specifically mentioned, among other things, that the Kendal model could be developed elsewhere," said Fachir. Kendal Industrial Park is an integrated industrial area in Central Java that was developed by Singaporean investors which was inaugurated by President Jokowi with Singapore PM Lee Hsien Long.

According to Fachir, in the talks Deputy PM Teo mentioned that the Batam, Bintan and Karimun areas had become Singapore's investment targets. "Therefore, we, Indonesia, will take steps to facilitate the ease there," the Deputy Foreign Minister said. During the meeting, President Jokowi also congratulated Singapore on its 52nd birthday. The President hopes that the relationship between Indonesia and Singapore will be more advanced and close both at the level of the Asian region and globally.

Source: thepresidentpostindonesia.com