France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne visited Indonesia on November 27-29, following the presentation of the Digital Minister Mounir Mahjoubi two months earlier, to step up the political and economic dialogue of France and Indonesia bilateral strategic ties which had been commenced since 2011.  During the three-day visit, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne would meet Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan on November 28 for discussions about trade and maritime affairs. Then, France’s minister would have a session with the Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan related to the green economy and renewable energy.  After the meetings with Indonesian ministers, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne would visit the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) and have a night supper themed “France Gastronomy’ with the country’s professionals in the tourism sector. The minister would highlight France’s attractions as the number one tourist destination in Europe for Indonesian tourists.  Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne would meet Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto on November 29, in the launching event of an SRI synthetic rubber factory which received investment from France amounted to US$435 million.  Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne would then make a presentation before experts and international relations students regarding challenges in multilateralism in the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI) event before heading to G20 Summit in Buenos Aires which would be attended by France President Emanuel Macron and Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

French minister lauds Indonesia`s economic resilience

Secretary of State to the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne lauded Indonesia`s economy resilience which is supported by appropriate policies, and attractive climate for investment.  "I am impressed by the resilience of the Indonesian economy which has proven capable of coping with crisis. Indonesia has also carried out economic reforms to increase investment," Lemoyne said at a press conference here Thursday night (Nov 29).  The improvement of Indonesia`s investment climate was appreciated by France, which has just invested US$435 million in PT Synthetic Rubber Indonesia (SRI) to build a synthetic rubber factory in Cilegon, Banten province.  PT SRI is a joint venture company between Michelin and PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk.  With a production capacity of 120 thousand tons per year, the factory will complement all materials needed for the manufacture of tires in Indonesia. The first production of this factory will be exported with a value of around US$250 million.  "Investing in companies operating in Indonesia is a form of our efforts to help increase Indonesia`s export to neighboring countries, especially the ASEAN market," Lemoyne said.  Indonesia is expected to maintain its good investment climate by maintaining the quality of human resources and the stability of democracy.  France through Business France will cooperate with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) to attract more investment into the country.  "We hope to double the number of French companies in Indonesia to export products throughout the world," Lemoyne said.