Garibaldi "Boy" Thohir is the president director of Adaro Energy, Indonesia's second-largest listed coal miner. He is now the chairman of the China Committee at the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or Kadin, which is the country's largest business lobby group.
Boy said he wanted to work with the government to improve ties between Indonesia and China, especially in areas other than trade, which is already worth more than $100 billion a year.
"I hope that the good relationships that have existed between Indonesia and China for more than 70 years will keep getting better, especially in economic relations," Boy said at a ceremony on Saturday where Kadin and the government signed an agreement to strengthen cooperation between Indonesia and China.
He hoped that the two countries' relationship could "help Indonesia grow faster and change its economy for a better and more advanced Indonesia."
China is now a huge economic power that can make or break the growth of economies all over the world, including Indonesia.
China has the most people on Earth. With 1.5 billion people, the country has twice as many people as the EU and 2.5 times as many as Asean. With 9.6 million square kilometers, China is the fourth largest country in the world, after the US, Russia, and Canada.
Last year, the country had a gross domestic product (GDP) of more than $16.8 trillion, which was second only to the United States' $23 trillion. The rate of economic growth was above 8 percent from the 1980s to the 2000s. In the next 20 years, China will pass the US as the country with the biggest economy.
In 2021, China's GDP per person was over $11,000, while Indonesia's was only $3,900.
In the last 20 years, many Chinese products have been the most popular around the world. In 2020, China's exports reached $2.7 trillion, which was more than the US's $2.2 trillion and put China in first place. The US was the biggest importer in the world in the same year, with a value of $2.6 trillion. In the same year, China only imported $2.1 trillion worth of goods. China always has a trade surplus with the rest of the world of more than $500 billion.
In 2021, Indonesia was ranked 16th in the world and had a GDP of $1.1 trillion. However, it is still hard for Indonesia to do business with China. Indonesia only had $181.7 billion in exports in 2020, which put it at number 33 in the world. This was a long way behind Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, and especially Singapore, which was number nine in the world with $599.2 billion in exports.
Second, China is the top place where Indonesia sends its exports. In 2021, Indonesia will send $53.7 billion worth of goods to China. This is 23.2% of Indonesia's total exports for the same year. Indonesia's exports have been greatly affected by the ups and downs of the Chinese economy. China is the main place where nickel, coal, lignite, vegetable oil, and steel from Indonesia are sold. Everything from coffee to CPO is made from plants.
Third, most of the things Indonesia buys from other countries come from China. In 2021, China was the source of $56.2 billion in imports, which was 28.7% of all imports. From China, Indonesia buys things like transmission equipment parts, vaccines, electronic products and parts, garlic, steel products, textiles, and textile products, as well as building materials and home appliances. Since China's economy is getting worse, there will be less cheap goods coming from that country.
Fourth, Indonesia's trade deficit with China has always been a source of debate in the country. Since the beginning of the 2000s, China has always been ahead of Indonesia. During the pandemic, however, China's trade surplus with Indonesia has gone down a lot, from $18.4 billion in 2018 to $2.5 billion in 2018.
Fifth, the amount of money that China invests in Indonesia keeps going up. In 2021, China will have invested $3.2 billion in Indonesia, which will put it in third place behind Singapore, which has invested $9.4 billion, and Hong Kong, which has invested $4.6 billion. China is also involved in downstream nickel and renewable energy, in addition to building roads and bridges.
Committee for New China
Taking everything into account, Indonesia is determined to improve its economic relationship with China.
Boy Thohir is in charge of the current China Committee. He has already made a lot of changes that will help the two countries work together in the future. Eleven of the members, the secretary, and the two vice chairmen of this new team are young entrepreneurs from the second or third generation. Alex Kusuma is their name. Jona Widhagdo Putri as the vice chairman. The secretary is Anthony Akili. Maruarar Sirait, Axton Salim, Agus Salim Pangestu, Andre Rasjid, Untyas Anggraeni, Lawrence Barki, Jonathan Tahir, Fuganto Widjaja, William Utomo, Hendra Widjaja, and Rahmad Widjaja Sakti as members.
On Saturday, the new team committee was shown to the public at an event that Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Retno Marsudi, the Foreign Minister, and Lu Kang, the Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia, all attended.
Chairman of Triputra Group TP Rachmat, Chairman of Agung Sedayu Sugianto Kusuma aka "Aguan," businessman Edwin Soeryadjaja, Chairman of Artha Graha Tomy Winata, founder of Alfamart Djoko Susanto, and President Director of Elang Mahkota Teknologi Alvin Sariaatmadja were also at the event.
Kadin Chairman M. Arsjad Rasjid said that the new committee gave China a chance to do a better job of investing and trading with Indonesia.
"We hope that this will be the start of Indonesia's economy picking up again. Our investments in the world are worth $50 billion. This year, the goal is US$ 80 billion. In the future, it will be even higher "Arsjad said. On the other hand, he also wanted Indonesian goods to be sold in other countries.
On July 25–27, Kadin will hold a B20 Roadshow in Beijing, China. It wants to improve trade and investment relations with China and invite Chinese businesses to take part in the B20 Business Forum.
