AIBCnews: Issue 178 - May 2019

Dear Members and Friends,

After strongly contested election campaigns in both countries, our respective leaders in Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Joko Widodo have been successfully returned to office for another term. In President Jokowi’s case, this will be his second and final 5-year term, and many observers are speculating on what this may look like. For us time will tell of course, with hopes high that with IA-CEPA in our sights for ratification and entry into force this year, the relationship between Australia and Indonesia will continue to strengthen.

Already Australia’s newly reappointed Trade Minister, Simon Birmingham, has pressed for support for swift ratification of IA-CEPA, and of course AIBC has added its own voice to such calls; perhaps by the time of the IABC’s Conference in Bali at the beginning of November, we will have seen much progress.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Joko Widodo together at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, August 2018
(Photo: EPA-EFE)

AIBC surely looks forward to continuing to work with a range of our key stakeholders in the promotion of IA-CEPA, and in its successful implementation, with both DFAT and Austrade being central to this. Recently in Perth, with the WA Government as hosts, the State Directors of both DFAT and Austrade addressed the combined Business Councils having a focus on Asian countries, sharing an update on their priorities and services to business. These presentations are a useful reminder of the critically important role both organisations play, particularly as we contemplate IA-CEPA, and can be viewed here and here. 

To continue reading the May Newsletter, please click here.