The chambers of commerce of Indonesia and India have agreed to cooperate with a focus on four sectors, namely manufacturing, mining, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure.

The Indonesia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and Confederation Industry of India (CII) held a CEO Forum in Jakarta on Tuesday. The forum was the continuation of an event held in New Delhi in December 2016.

Kadin chairman Rosan Roeslani said yesterday that in 2016, the two parties agreed on cooperation in six sectors. However, in 2018, the meeting decided to eliminate two sectors from the list, agriculture and services, to narrow the focus.

“We agreed to focus only on four sectors compared to six sectors in the previous meeting,” he said in a statement.

For the mining sector, he said that India was one of the biggest buyers of Indonesian coal and that Indonesia was the second-biggest coal seller to India behind Australia.

According to International Trade Centre data, in 2017 India imported US$4.7 billion worth of coal-based products from Indonesia, an increase of 42.42 per cent compared to $3.3 billion in 2016.

“Some Indian mining companies are also interested in investing in Indonesia,”Rosan said.

In the pharmaceutical industry, India still imposed 40 percent import tariffs on drugs, reducing the competitiveness of Indonesian-made medicine. “The only way to avoid high tariffs is to invest [in India] but the problem is how to find the right partner. That is the function of the CEO Forum,” he said. – The Jakarta Post

Lao business seeks govt intervention on oil prices

The business sector in Laos has called on the government to intervene and reduce the impact on consumers due to rising oil prices.

Last Saturday, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce announced the seventh adjustment of retail prices of gasoline since the beginning of this year following a surge in oil prices in the world markets.

Vice President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Valy Vetsaphong, suggested last week that the government has to consider adjusting the price structure by cutting some costs related to expensive fuels to maintain a reasonable price for gasoline.

The oil pricing structure is a tool the public sector can use to manage fluctuations in the cost of the commodity.

Valy said “The state needs to think about reducing taxes and money that is collected from oil businesses for numerous funds and public services, such as quality checks. They are some of the main drivers of prices.

“Entrepreneurs will face a smaller impact than consumers because they can add their costs to products, goods or services, but people have no choice,” added Valy, who is a businesswoman.

It is believed that despite the rising oil prices in the world markets, the domestic market will continue to have fuel at cheap rates if some domestic factors affecting prices are addressed by the government. This mechanism could protect consumers and oil businesses from pressures.

Valy urged the state to choose both “attacking and reverting options” to deal with the situation.

“When prices go up, the State must consider cutting some domestic causes, including taxes. But it can charge a higher rate when oil prices are cheaper if it is concerned about revenue loss. This measure can help provide relief because a higher price impacts everyone at the grassroots level,” she said.

An economics teacher at the National University of Laos noted that the government may have its reasons for fresh hikes in oil prices following the surge in prices on the world markets, even though it knew this decision impacts the living conditions of the people. – The Vientiane Times