Vietnam, Indonesia meet to foster stronger trade relations

In addition to being part of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and APEC, the two countries have large and rapidly growing populations and possess many other common features and attributes.

Many international investors report they find Indonesia and Vietnam attractive destinations to do business in and that they are strong competitors for transnational companies limited investment dollars.

Significant investments in infrastructure in both countries over the past 10 years, a rapidly growing consumer class and regulatory reforms related to foreign investments in manufacturing, they say, have created attractive business climates with many exciting opportunities for transnational companies.

It is this high level of competition between the business communities of Vietnam and Indonesia that gave rise to a meeting earlier this month between Vietnam President Tran Dai Quang and Indonesia Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

They met on the margins of the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Lima, Peru, specifically to head off what they see as the makings of a potential trade war among APEC members.

"APEC is now seeing a new development in the form of a trade war. It is important to stick to the ideals for which it was formed," said Indonesian Vice President Kalla, according to widely distributed news reports in the Indonesian press.

On his way to Lima, said the Indonesian press, Vice President Kalla and his entourage made a transit stop at the Juan Alvarez Acapulco airport in Mexico, where in a statement he said he would urge the APEC Summit to avoid a trade war.

President Quang and Vice President Kalla held the bilateral meeting specifically to discuss increased collaboration between the two countries private sectors along with increased cooperation of the public sectors in trade and investment in large number of economic segments.

Vice President Kalla also explained that APEC, which was formed in the Indonesian West Java provincial city of Bogor in 1994, had as its overarching objective the goal of boosting trade and investment among its members.

At that time, he pointed out, the US and Japan were the two leading economies that were driving the world economy. Now, China is emerging as a viable alternative to replace them in that role.

According to Mr Kalla, the APEC summit in Peru played a pivotal role in deciding the direction of the global economy and the answer to the question of whether the US will dominate the economy or China take the initiative.

Mr Kalla further noted that in the beginning, APEC had many ceremonial activities such as seminars and other events, but now the forum had shifted to largely just trade issues, noting that a refocus back on the broader societal aspect is in order.

He predicted that the US will not be playing a dominant role in the future because the US would opt for economic protection and withdraw from the path of globalization it has been on over the past eight years.

He also predicted that Vietnam, Indonesian trade relations would strengthen in line with the new economic order unfolding in the world.