According to President Dalton Wong, who launched the new Indonesian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (IndoCham) on Friday, the new business chamber will operate under the country's national phrase Bhinneka Tunggal Ika "Unity in Diversity" (one is more).
The chamber was officially launched on Friday, September 23, in Kandal Province, in conjunction with the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh's Indocham Business Working Dinner, which was attended by Ambassador H.E. Sudirman Haseng.
Dalton Wong, the President of IndoCham, is an Indonesian national and the Chairman of Speedwind Group, a leading distribution and management services firm with the largest network in Cambodia.
Dalton stated in his inaugural speech that the newly formed chamber aims to foster business, socio-cultural, and community inclusion.
He also added IndoCham intended to collaborate closely with business development and advisory firms such as Aquarii BD Cambodia, and its establishment was quickly supported by the local Indonesian business community.
“Indocham will establish a strong community network for Indonesian businesses, professionals, and employees to interact with one another, exchange views, ideas, and best practices, and share or collaborate on business and investment opportunities for mutual benefit,” Dalton stated.
“At the same time, we will establish a gateway or platform for Cambodian and foreign businesses, entrepreneurs, and investors in Cambodia or interested in establishing a presence here to network with one another and with Indocham members,” he added.
Furthermore, he stated that the chamber will have a strong inclusive principle, not only in terms of business, but also in terms of introducing socio-cultural and positive Indonesian values to Cambodians.
“IndoCham will make every effort to organize more cultural exchanges between various Cambodian communities so that we can better appreciate and understand their respective cultural diversity, heritage, and history,” Dalton said.
“We also intend to engage with like-minded CSR-conscious companies, as well as those that are environmentally friendly and have the right corporate social governance, to build a system that can provide appropriate and timely support to communities in need,” he added.
The Indonesian Embassy has previously identified significant investment opportunities in Cambodia in agriculture, agribusiness, renewable energy, construction, and real estate.
As a number of coal-fired power plants are set to come online soon, Cambodia may seek future cooperation with Indonesia in the import of natural resources.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, total trade volume in 2020 was $588.65 million, a decrease of 10.96 percent from the same period in 2019 ($661.11 million).
According to data from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, the trend of trade balance between the two countries was on average 7.53 percent from 2016 to 2020.