The newly established Indonesian Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (IndoCham), which was officially inaugurated on Sept 23 this year, hosted its inaugural member’s event on Fri, Oct 15.
The gathering was graced by the Ambassador of Indonesia to Cambodia Sudirman Haseng and attended by around 40 IndoCham members.
The event also coincided with the introduction of IndoCham’s executive committee led by its President Dalton Wong who is also chairman of Speedwind Group of companies.
The other executive committee members are Alfred K. Aliwarga (treasurer), Octavianus, vice-president, Hendarto, adviser, Chandra Satya, vice-president-corporate social responsibility, and Candra Tanpatti, regional vice-president-Siem Reap.
Speaking at the event, Dalton said that IndoCham’s immediate priorities are to build business, socio-cultural and community inclusiveness.He added that the chamber would also act as a gateway for Indonesian businesses and investors who are interested in investment and business opportunities in Cambodia.
“Indocham shall build a strong community network for Indonesian businesses, professionals and employees to interact with each other, exchange views, ideas and best practices and share or collaborate on business and investment opportunities for mutual benefit,” Dalton said. “At the same time, we will also create a gateway or platform to help increase Indonesian business presence in Cambodia and, towards this end, will collaborate with the chambers of other Asean countries here for mutual gains.”
The trade volume between the two countries in 2020 reached $588.65 million, a decrease of 10.9 percent compared with the same period in 2019 ($661.11 million), because of the ongoing pandemic.
From 2016-2020, the trend of trade balance between both countries was on average 7.53 percent, based on the data from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia. Indonesian entities in Cambodia are involved in a number of sectors such as logistics, travel, entertainment, hospitality, financial services and trading, among others.
Ambassador Haseng, addressing the attendees, said the establishment of IndoCham is a right move at the right time because its presence will directly contribute towards greater economic and business activities in Cambodia and involving primarily Indonesian businesses.