Jakarta and Guangdong Discuss Potential for Strengthening Economic Cooperation

The Head of the Jakarta Industry, Trade, Cooperatives, Small and Medium Enterprises (PPKUKM) Agency, Elisabeth Ratu Rante Allo, accompanied the Minister of MSMEs of the Republic of Indonesia, Maman Abdurrahman in a meeting with the Governor of Guangdong Province, Meng Fanli, in Guangzhou, China.

Mutually beneficial investment and partnership opportunities

Also present at the meeting were Chairman of the Asian Trade, Tourism, and Economics Council (ATTEC) Budihardjo Iduansjah, as well as business delegates and executives.

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The meeting served as a momentum to strengthen relations and open up opportunities for economic cooperation between Indonesia, particularly Jakarta, and Guangdong Province as one of the main centers of economic growth and trade in China.

On this occasion, various potential collaborations that could provide concrete benefits for economic development, trade, the business world, and strengthening the capacity of MSMEs were also discussed.

Ratu said that for the Jakarta Provincial Government, relations with Guangdong have strategic significance in encouraging the expansion of market access and international business networks for Jakarta businesses.

"Inter-regional collaboration is expected to open up space for the exchange of knowledge, technology, experience in managing the business sector, as well as mutually beneficial investment and partnership opportunities," she said, Friday (9/4).

She added that in addition to strengthening economic and MSME cooperation, the meeting also served as an exploration of collaboration in the field of urban infrastructure management, particularly the water sector.

Ratu explained that Jakarta is currently entering a phase of urban water management transformation, with water management and flood control being one of Jakarta's main transformation agendas.

In this context, the Jakarta Provincial Government sees opportunities for cooperation based on technology and knowledge transfer, including in modernizing water services, implementing smart metering, improving service quality and reliability, and efforts to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) or water loss.

"Jakarta's connection with international partners such as Guangdong is expected not to stop at meetings, but can be followed up through concrete cooperation and provide added value for the community and the business world," she explained.

She hopes that in the future, exploration of cooperation can be continued through technical discussions between parties, including between the Jakarta Water Regional-Owned Enterprise (BUMD) and the Guangzhou Water Group, as an initial step to explore opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaboration.

"Jakarta is open to collaborations that can strengthen its capacity, technology, and competitiveness. What matters most is how these relationships can be translated into concrete cooperation that benefits both the people of Jakarta and businesses," she admitted.