(Jakarta News) The 2022 Chengdu-ASEAN Foreign Trade Enterprise Cooperation and Development Conference, co-organized by the Chengdu Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese, the Foreign Affairs Office of the Chengdu Municipal People's Government, the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Chengdu Federation of Industry and Commerce, and the Malaysian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, To seek common development plans, at 2:30 pm Beijing time on November 17, 2022, 230 people participated in the offline and online conference.
Dai Jun, executive deputy director of the United Front Work Department of the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee, Zhu Rong, deputy director of the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Wu Yufeng, second-level inspector of the Chengdu Federation of Overseas Chinese, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Chengdu Municipal People's Government, and Liu Hongjiang, vice chairman of the Chengdu Federation of Industry and Commerce. The guests who participated in the speech at the conference included Yan Dengyi, acting president of the Malaysian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, Zhang Jinxiong, chairman of Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, and Lin Yuqing, chairman of the Federation of Non-Chinese Chambers of Commerce in the Philippines.
Dai Jun, Executive Vice Minister of the United Front Work Department of the Chengdu Municipal Party Committee, said that the development of Chengdu in recent years has achieved remarkable achievements, which cannot be separated from the kind care, family help and joint promotion of people from all walks of life, including overseas Chinese from the ten ASEAN countries. From the sudden outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, overseas Chinese generously donated money to help, established overseas procurement channels immediately, raised epidemic prevention materials for various fields in the city, and accelerated the resumption of work and production in areas with low infection rates, including the earthquake in Sichuan. Overseas Chinese at home and abroad Once again, we made concerted efforts to donate materials and showed a strong cohesion. We would like to take this opportunity to pay high tribute to overseas Chinese on behalf of the 21 million citizens of Chengdu.
The Chengdu-ASEAN Foreign Trade Enterprise Cooperation and Development Conference is held at the right time, and it will surely provide wonderful opportunities for overseas Chinese businessmen from ASEAN countries to join high-quality foreign trade enterprises, and provide us overseas Chinese with a foothold in new enterprises, new cultural development, Show new achievements and provide a broad platform. And through this conference, the "Rongqiaotong" RCEP foreign trade service platform was launched.
Zhang Jinxiong, Chairman of Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, said that he is very happy to participate in today's Chengdu-ASEAN online event. First of all, on behalf of the entire Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, please allow me to extend my condolences to the Chengdu Municipal Government, to the chambers of commerce of ASEAN countries participating in the meeting, all guests, entrepreneurs and friends , Sincere regards.
Indonesia and China have had close economic and trade cooperation since ancient times. Today, as one of the most important partner countries along the "21st Century Maritime Silk Road", the cooperation between our two countries is getting closer. China has been Indonesia's largest international trading partner for 9 consecutive years, and has been among the top three sources of foreign investment in Indonesia for many years. In 2021, the bilateral trade volume between Indonesia and China will reach 124.34 billion US dollars. This figure has reached 69.7 billion US dollars in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 30%. In 2021, China will invest 3.16 billion US dollars in Indonesia. The investment has reached US$3.6 billion, and we believe that these figures most truly reflect the direct and close economic cooperation between Indonesia and China.
Although affected by the new crown epidemic and dragged down by the international trade environment, in the past two or three years, global economic development has been struggling. Indonesia has also gone through a very, very difficult stage. However, under the active guidance of the government and the mutual encouragement and persistence of practitioners from all walks of life, the Indonesian economy has returned to positive growth since last year's driver. In the first half of this year, the growth rate reached more than 5%. With the reopening of Indonesia's national gate at the beginning of the year, Indonesia's economy is recovering rapidly. Industries such as manufacturing, wholesale and retail communications have shown rapid growth, and the hotel and catering service, transportation and warehousing industries have grown significantly. A large number of international business travelers have returned to Indonesia to start work.
This year is the first year when RCEP comes into effect. We really expect that business exchanges with China and ASEAN countries can recover quickly and maintain a stable and good growth.
Chengdu is the core hub city of transportation, logistics, and economic and trade cooperation in western China. It is also one of the new first-tier cities in China today. Especially in the new era, a large number of talents are pouring in. With the strength of the "Chengdu Metropolitan Circle" regional strength, The economy has entered a stage of rapid development.
We welcome it very much and look forward to more and wider cooperation with friends in Chengdu and Sichuan. We also very much welcome the Chengdu Municipal Government and entrepreneurs in Chengdu to come to Indonesia more often to look for opportunities for cooperation and development. Our Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association will, as always, play a good role as a bridge for cooperation between the two parties and provide good services. Let's build a better future together and build a more beautiful and prosperous homeland! Finally, I would like to thank the organizer again for the invitation, and wish today's event a complete success!
