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| Graphic by Cho Sang-won |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Indonesia, an archipelagic country comprised of over 17,000 islands, bridges the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is a diverse and rapidly developing country with a population of around 276 million people, making it the fourth most populous country in the world.
As the largest economy in Southeast Asia, Indonesia has experienced consistent economic growth in recent years. In 2022, the country's economy expanded at a rate of 5.31 percent, representing its highest annual growth rate since 2013, according to Statistics Indonesia.
Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Gandi Sulistiyanto described the country's strong economic performance last year as it come out from the COVID-19 pandemic. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.86 percent in August 2022, down from 6.49 percent in the same period the previous year.
Last year, both investment realization and total trade experienced double-digit growth, with materialized foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic direct investment (DDI) increasing by 34 percent. Total exports and imports also saw a significant rise, jumping by 23.7 percent.
Among Southeast Asian nations, only Indonesia has a Special Strategic Partnership with Korea. The economic relationship between Korea and Indonesia is also robust, with Korea being Indonesia's seventh-biggest export partner and sixth-biggest import partner.
Indonesia primarily exports natural resources, such as coal, palm oil and rubber to Korea, while Korea mainly exports electronics, machinery and vehicles to Indonesia.
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| Main islands of Indonesia / gettyimagesbank |
Back in 2019, Indonesia made a decision to move its capital city from Jakarta, situated on the island of Java, to a forest city in East Kalimantan Province on Borneo. This new capital city has been named Nusantara, which means "archipelago" in Javanese.
The reason behind this move is to tackle issues of overcrowding and environmental degradation in Jakarta and to promote more balanced development across Indonesia.
Similarly, Korea has experience in developing Sejong, a new city here, back in 2012 to alleviate congestion in the capital. Sejong now serves as the administrative capital of Korea.
To share expertise, Korea and Indonesia have signed several memorandums of understanding (MOUs) regarding Indonesia's capital relocation project.
Ambassador Sulistiyanto has a strong background in business, serving as Managing Director of Sinar Mas Group, one of the largest companies in Indonesia, operating in various industries such as paper, real estate and telecommunications.
Since assuming his ambassadorial post in November 2021, Sulistiyanto has been actively working to enhance economic relations between Korea and Indonesia. He has engaged in various efforts to promote trade and investment between the two countries, including participating in business forums, holding meetings with Korean business leaders and exploring new areas of economic cooperation.
Indonesia is the first country to feature at The Korea Times Global Business Forum at the Korea Press Center, Thursday. The year-long program aims to showcase additional global business prospects for Korea, including Japan, China and Saudi Arabia.
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