BritCham aims to facilitate trade between UK and Indonesia’s company, through event management, business matchmaking, market studies, and the most sought after one-to-one meetings.
Early May was a busy month for BritCham Indonesia. Together with British in South-east Asia (BiSEA) colleagues, BritCham Indonesia joined the first UK roadshow of 2018, covering Manchester, Durham, Sheffield, Birmingham, Gloucester, London, Southampton, Slough, Ashford, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Indonesia was the main theme and the focal point of Executive Director Chris Wren’s presentation throughout the roadshow. We concluded a landmark agreement with the Scottish Chamber of Commerce to promote bilateral and investment opportunities. “A lot of Scottish businesses are unaware of the massive opportunities in Indonesia right now. This awareness of Indonesian opportunities for Scottish businesses was loud and clear this morning and we are going to build on that. The collective expertise is coming together,”Liz Cameron, Chief Executive & Director of Scottish Chamber of Commerce, said.
During the roadshow, visitors from various sectors stopped by Chris’s desk. More than 150 companies from across the UK expressed interest in the Indonesian market and took the initiative to learn more about it. They were particularly attracted to the huge market Indonesia has to offer and the potential exposure to their products. These one-to-one meetings act as the first step that will lead businesses should they decide to check out the market.
In Gloucester we had a special talk show with Richard Graham MP, British Trade Envoy for Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines and ASEAN Economic Community regarding doing business in the ASEAN region.
“It is fun to do business [in the ASEAN]. These are people who invest in the relationship as well as product. Your product may at times, definitely not be the cheapest, but the benefit of perception of quality that goes with the Union Jack, Made in UK. You may be well enough suited that the relationship will take you over the line. That, I think, is what doing business in SE Asia all about,” Graham said.
Together with the BiSEA team, Chris was selling hard the prospect and opportunities in expanding businesses to SE Asia market, especially Indonesia. We asked companies and other Chambers about how Brexit might impact their plan to develop their business outside the UK. But they dismissed the notion and looked at Brexit as a good chance to explore outside Europe. As Nick Patrick the International Trade Manager of SYITC, stated, “Most SMEs do not know people in these markets, the global business network provides personal contacts of people they can trust to give them the right information. It is a fantastic way of entering the new market.”
Rizal Sukma, Indonesia’s Ambassador to the UK and Ireland concurred. “BritCham Indonesia has been playing an instrumental role in supporting business communities both in the UK and Indonesia. With support from the BritCham and our BKPM here [in London], we can do more of these activities for the benefit of trade and investment relationship between Indonesia and UK,” he said.
Interested in learning more about trade, business and export opportunities between Indonesia and the UK? Please contact our Overseas Partner Delivery (OPD) team via
email: obn.team@britcham.or.id. We also have free webinars and other events.
Follow us on social media, Instagram and twitter @britcham_ID, Facebook at BritCham Indonesia also YouTube and LinkedIn at British Chamber of Commerce Indonesia.
