(Jakarta) The Chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB), Li Huiqiong, led a 6-member delegation at 4 pm on September 5 (Monday), including five members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Ge Peifan, Liang Xi, Li Shirong, Yan Wenyu and Huang Yinghao visited the Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, and were greeted by Chairman Zhang Jinxiong, Xie Huaan, Lin Kexu, Xue Tianzeng, Yang Jinfeng, Lian Jiehao, Chen Xin, Zhou Weiliang, Weng Hualing, Lin Songshi, Xue Xin, Chen Yingquan, Xu Qunhao, Wang Chaosheng, Cai Yuncai, Gao Pengcai, etc., as well as Cai Zhifeng, Counselor and Consul General of the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia, and the Hong Kong Indonesian Chamber of Commerce delegation welcomed them.
Chairman Zhang Jinxiong said, first of all, please allow me, on behalf of Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association, to extend a warm welcome to all of you for your visit! From January to June 2022, Indonesia's exports were US$141.07 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37.1%; imports were US$116.18 billion, a year-on-year increase of 27.6%; a trade surplus of US$24.89 billion was achieved. At the same time, in the first half of the year, Indonesia's accumulated foreign investment amounted to about 20.7 billion US dollars. Mainland China became the second largest source of investment with 3.6 billion US dollars. Hong Kong's investment in Indonesia also reached 2.9 billion US dollars, ranking third.
Over the years, Hong Kong and Indonesia have not only maintained close economic and trade cooperation, but also have special blood ties. Today, there are still many Indonesian returned overseas Chinese living in Hong Kong, who travel back and forth between Hong Kong and Indonesia from time to time, doing a lot of work for our bilateral cooperation and exchanges. At the beginning of this year, RCEP was launched, just two days ago - on August 30, our Indonesian parliament also just approved the agreement, officially confirming Indonesia's RCEP membership. We believe that in the near future, RCEP and our entire East and Southeast Asia will be a new frontier and a new growth area for world economic development.
As a highly prosperous free port and an international metropolis, Hong Kong is also known as "New York, London and Hong Kong" together with New York and London. It is the third largest financial center in the world, an important international financial, trade, shipping center and an international innovation and technology center. One of the freest economies and most competitive cities in the world, enjoying a high reputation around the world. Over the past 25 years, we have seen that Hong Kong is not only a "Pearl of the Orient" standing on the banks of the Hong Kong River with the same style, but also in the practice of "One Country, Two Systems". The sister cities will form the "Greater Bay Area" metropolitan area and move forward hand in hand, each will give full play to its own strengths and advantages, take innovation as the lead, technology research and development as the foundation, integrate culture, education and industrial chain, and rely on Hong Kong's status as an international financial center , to build the future Asian economic center.
Chairman Li is the youngest party chairman in the history of the Hong Kong DAB and a member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council. We are very happy to be able to lead a delegation to visit today. I hope that in the future, I will be able to keep in touch and move around often. The Indonesian government supports and encourages innovation, entrepreneurship, cross-cultural communication and learning among young people. We also very much hope that our young people in Indonesia and Hong Kong can communicate more, communicate more, learn from each other and make progress together. Let's work together to build a better future. Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association is willing to join hands with the Hong Kong Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong to provide necessary support and assistance to promote economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges between Indonesia and Hong Kong. We also sincerely look forward to the closer cooperation between Hong Kong and Indonesia in the post-epidemic era!
Finally, the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching. I wish Chairman Li and everyone present a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and good health to the members. I also wish you all a successful trip to Indonesia.
Chairman Li Huiqiong said that the first purpose of our visit this time is to say hello to good friends in Indonesia and ASEAN, and to express the concern and condolences of Hong Kong citizens to Indonesia, especially during the epidemic period. The second purpose is that this year marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the DAB. At this critical juncture, we organized the first ASEAN delegation. This time we have a 5-day visit in Indonesia. During the visit in Indonesia, we will conduct an in-depth visit. On the second day of the visit, we have felt the business opportunities and enthusiastic people of Indonesia, and found that Indonesia is a country with great potential for development, including rich natural resources.
She said that the purpose of this visit to Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association is to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Indonesia's largest chamber of commerce in the fields of economy, trade and investment and to learn from them, and to bring the experience of this visit to Hong Kong. The visit strengthens the cooperation between ASEAN countries including Indonesia in various fields, and uses this opportunity to promote Hong Kong as a platform for the Greater Bay Area. I hope this visit can tell a good story for the country and Hong Kong.
Counselor and Consul General Cai Zhifeng said that, first of all, he warmly welcomes the Hong Kong DAB Chairman Li Huiqiong to lead a delegation of parliamentarians to visit Indonesia. Chairman Li personally served as the head of the delegation, which fully demonstrated the great importance the DAB attaches to the Indonesian station. First of all, please allow me to convey the cordial greetings of Ambassador Lu Kang. He looks forward to meeting with Chairman Li and his party at the official residence tomorrow. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your long-term care, support and help for the development of China-Indonesia relations.
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, China and Indonesia have been watching and helping each other, and the bilateral relations have shown a vigorous momentum of development, becoming a model of mutual respect and win-win cooperation among countries in the region. In recent years, China and Indonesia have been committed to continuously improving the level of economic and trade cooperation. In the first half of this year, China's imports to Indonesia increased by 34.2% year-on-year, and Chinese enterprises' investment in Indonesia continued to increase, becoming the preferred target for Indonesia to absorb foreign direct investment, helping Indonesia to become an important stainless steel producer and exporter in the world, and contributing to the high-quality development of Indonesia's economy. made outstanding contributions.
Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN. It has long been closely linked with Hong Kong and has a solid foundation for economic and trade cooperation. Relying on its unique advantages as an international financial and trade center, Hong Kong and the Indonesian business community have been actively interacting with each other, and a flourishing cooperation atmosphere has been formed since the return of Hong Kong 25 years ago. The vast number of business leaders, Chinese entrepreneurs, and Chinese businessmen are the participants, promoters and beneficiaries. At present, under the great opportunity of jointly building the "Belt and Road", and the arrival of the new era of "patriots ruling Hong Kong", the economic and trade investment cooperation between Hong Kong and Indonesia is indeed at the right time. , a more comprehensive and solid new chapter, injecting new impetus into their respective long-term prosperity and development. Lastly, I sincerely wish Chairman Lee and all the members of Parliament all the best during their visit to Indonesia! At the same time, I would like to thank all Chinese business leaders for their contributions to promoting Hong Kong-Indonesia economic and trade cooperation. After the exchange meeting, representatives of the two sides exchanged souvenirs and took pictures.
