Indonesian Ambassador to Kuwait Lena Maryana and Kuwait’s Minister of Social, Family and Childhood Affairs Dr. Amthal Hadi Al-Huwailah during the cake-cutting ceremony (Right) Colorfully dressed Indonesian women render a scintillating performance at the ceremony.

Maryana also announced that the Indonesian Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Forum will be held on Nov 7-9 with the support of the Central Bank of Indonesia. She said Kuwait’s investments in Indonesia have been increasing over the past five years according to data from the Indonesian Investment Coordination Board. She added that in 2019, Kuwait’s investments amounted to $145,700 and recorded $480,500 in 2023. “In the first half of 2024, the total volume of Kuwaiti investments amounted to $132,800. Both countries need to exert more efforts to increase Kuwaiti investments in Indonesia,” she asserted. She confirmed that the oil and gas sector still dominates Kuwait’s investments in Indonesia.

“Recently, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) acquired two major blocks in the first bidding round in Indonesia in 2024. The first is in the Amanah Operation Area (land) in South Sumatra Province, and the second is in Melati Operation Area (land and sea) in the provinces of Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi. Kuwait is a strategic trade partner for Indonesia, so we continue to work towards increasing our trade volume with Kuwait,” she elaborated. She went on to say that in 2023, the trade volume between the two countries reached $488.1 million.

“As of July 2024, the trade volume reached $304.4 million -- an increase of 4.83 percent compared to the same period in 2023. We are working hard with the Kuwaiti government and businesspersons to increase our bilateral trade. Indonesia has strong capabilities to develop our oil and gas industry. PT Bukaka Teknik Utama, one of the leading private companies in Indonesia, is ready to enter the Kuwait market with Pump (Pompa Angguk) and Passenger Boarding Bridge (Garbarata). PT Bukaka has a strong domestic market in Indonesia, as well as an overseas market in India and Oman. We hope it will be able to enter Kuwait soon.”

She pointed out that as part of the efforts to increase the volume of bilateral trade, Indonesia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreed on July 31, 2024 to start negotiations on the Indonesia-GCC Free Trade Agreement (IGCC FTA). In terms of cultural cooperation, she stated “we are very optimistic that the good relations between Indonesia and Kuwait, especially in preserving the culture and heritage of the two countries, will continue and grow stronger. As the most popular ‘halal’ tourism destination, Indonesia always welcomes Kuwaitis to visit and experience the beautiful places with warm hospitality.” She confirmed that the Kuwaiti government offers two scholarships for Indonesian students at Kuwait University each year, hoping this number will increase in the future considering the nation receives at least 500 applications every year.

“To explore more possibilities of cooperation, the two countries decided to hold the second bilateral cooperation meeting in Jakarta next year. The first round was held in Kuwait in 2019,” she added. On the Indonesian community in Kuwait, she affirmed that Kuwait has become home to more than 5,000 Indonesians. “Some of them spend most of their time in Kuwait. Most of them work in the health, oil, gas, hospitality and manufacturing sectors,” she revealed. She expressed her deep appreciation for the Kuwaiti government for fully supporting the Indonesian government’s efforts to provide better protection for all Indonesians in Kuwait.