Hipmi reaching out to French market

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesia Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its French counterpart, France Indonesia Society, to boost economic cooperation in trade and investment between the two countries.

Hipmi chairman Sandiaga S. Uno hopes the MoU will help build the foundation for a joint Indonesian-French community of business decision makers.

"We will hold follow-up meetings in the coming months in order to establish a concrete cooperation agreement within one year," Sandiaga told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

He said the MoU was primarily aimed at opening a new market for Indonesia's small medium enterprises (SMEs), which represent the majority of Hipmi's 305,000 members.

"With the MoU, we are looking to work on the energy, agribusiness and infrastructure sectors."

The signing of the MoU was witnessed Wednesday by UNESCO officials, Education Minister Bambang Sudibyo, Indonesia's ambassador to France and a delegation of young French entrepreneurs -- including top executives from BNP Paribas, Total and Orange.

Indonesia's two-way trade with France in 2006 was valued at US$1.7 billion. According to data issued by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), France is Indonesia's sixth largest trade partner of all 27 European Union members.

Sandiaga added Hipmi would also cooperate with Indonesian students in France to promote the role of Hipmi.

Sandiaga said Hipmi would organize trade exhibitions for Indonesian SME products in Brussels and Paris in November.