(Yicai) June 3 -- Indonesia and China will strengthen their industrial collaboration in areas such as natural resources, following notable success in cooperating on infrastructure development in recent years, according to officials.

Firms from both countries are exploring partnerships in various sectors, such as the green economy, to promote higher-quality and more inclusive investment, Rico Rustombi, special advisor to Indonesia’s Ministry of Investment and Downstream Industry, told Yicai at a recent investment promotion event held in the Southeast Asian country.

With rich and diverse natural resources, Indonesia welcomes foreign companies with advanced technologies to become strategic partners, Rustombi said, adding that it is a win-win cooperation.

The two nations have already jointly developed the landmark Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, and there are other major ongoing projects in technology and green initiatives, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, chairperson of Indonesia’s National Economic Council, told Yicai at the same event.

As SE Asia’s first high-speed rail link, the Jakarta-Bandung line has cut the journey time between the capital and the tourist hub of Bandung to just 46 minutes from more than three hours. Since its launch in October 2023, the line has carried over nine million passengers.

The two countries have also worked together on mineral resource development. The China-Indonesia Qingshan Industrial Park on Sulawesi Island, for instance, has evolved over a decade into a nickel-iron and stainless steel production base with the world’s most comprehensive industrial chain.

Chinese battery materials supplier GEM has also developed extraction technologies for low-grade nickel ore since entering Indonesia in 2019. This has drastically cut costs while also maximizing the use of waste ore, addressing environmental concerns, Chairman Xu Kaihua told Yicai.

In August 2024, Shenzhen-based GEM partnered with the Bandung Institute of Technology, a well-known university in Indonesia, to establish a joint engineering research and development center for new-energy materials and metallurgy, aiming to cultivate local talent and advance Indonesia’s technological capabilities.

Editor: Tom Litting