Conference held in promotion of Hainan free trade port

A Hainan free trade port promotion conference was held on Friday in Jakarta, Indonesia. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A Hainan free trade port promotion conference was held on Friday in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The conference, organized by Indonesian Chinese Entrepreneur Association and Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development, introduced preferential policies and new investment opportunities of the province. It aimed at enhancing cooperation between Hainan and Indonesia, and Hainan and ASEAN to achieve mutual benefits.

"At the moment, Hainan is accelerating the construction of free trade ports. We welcome investors from all over the world with open arms, and share the benefits of deepened reform and opening-up," Shen Xiaoming, Secretary of the Hainan provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, said at the event.

More than 400 people attended the conference, including permanent representatives and officials to ASEAN, representatives of major Indonesian business associations and representatives in key industries in Indonesia.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Indonesia. China has been Indonesia's largest trading partner for ten years in a row, and Indonesia is China's second largest investment destination in ASEAN.

In recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between Hainan and Indonesia has deepened, personnel exchanges have become increasingly frequent, the bilateral trade volume between Hainan and Indonesia has grown rapidly, and Indonesia has become the main investment destination for Hainan enterprises in ASEAN member states, according to Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development.

At the conference, 13 cooperation project agreements between Hainan and Indonesia were signed, involving the opening of international routes, coconut and natural rubber raw material procurement, factory investment, cross-border e-commerce and other fields, with a contract value of nearly 3.5 billion yuan.

Indonesia's Kapal Api Group, for example, decided to bring its coffee and food products to participate in the third China International Consumer Products Expo, which will kick off on April 11. It will bring a team to visit Hainan to discuss the cooperation of establishing coffee factories, conducting trade settlement and developing product processing.

"This cooperation is a win-win deal. By entering Hainan FTP, Kapal Api will enjoy the policy dividend of zero tariffs on equipment and raw material imports," said Ke Youpeng, Director of the Hainan Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Rural Economics.

"The expo is a platform for us to better expand the Chinese market, and we hope to reach potential consumers from other countries. Meanwhile, consumers in China, especially Hainan, will get to know us better," Soedomo Mergonoto, CEO of Kapal Api Group, said.

Liu Rutao, Deputy Director of the Hainan Provincial Bureau of International Economic Development, believed that this conference can strengthen the economic and trade exchanges between Hainan and Indonesia.

"By introducing policies of Hainan FTP, the conference can help Indonesian entrepreneurs to invest and start business in Hainan, and it can also be a passage to facilitate more enterprises from the Chinese mainland to increase their investment in Indonesia via Hainan," he said.