President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held closed-door meetings with two major South Korean firms on Monday as part of the government’s efforts to explore new business opportunities.
President Jokowi held the separate meetings with South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group and giant steel producer Posco on the second day of his visit to South Korea.
In the first meeting with Lotte Jokowi was accompanied by Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, Creative Economy Agency ( Bekraf ) chairman Triawan Munaf, Investment Coordination Board ( BKPM ) chairman Franky Sibarani, National Economy and Industry Committee ( KEIN ) chairman Sutrisno Bachir and Presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki.
Lotte was represented by the Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin, Lotte Group president Hwang Kag-gyu, Lotte Group executive managing director Lim Byung-yun, Lotte Chemical president and chief executive officer Huh Soo Young, Lotte Mart president and CEO Kim Jong-in and Lotte Engineering president and CEO Kim Chee-hyun.
Lotte runs a number of businesses in Indonesia, including some in the retail and petrochemical sectors.
Jokowi then held a meeting with Posco where he met CEO Kwon Oh-joon, Posco president Kim Jin-il, executive vice president Kwak Jeong-shik, Posco senior vice president Lim Seung-kyu and Posco Indonesia Inti president Kim Jhi-yong.
Steelmaker Posco has previously collaborated with Indonesia’s steel maker PT Krakatau Steel, with the two firms establishing a joint venture company, PT Krakatau Posco, in 2010.
No details of the meetings have emerged yet.
Jokowi is also scheduled to meet South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday to discuss billateral issues including trade and investment.
South Korea is the fifth-largest foreign investor in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, according to data from BKPM having realized US$1.21 billion worth of investment projects in 2015.