Hong Kong to open office in Jakarta

Hong Kong’s administration plans to open a representative office in Jakarta to support cooperation between Indonesia and the special administrative region of China in various fields such as investment, trade, tourism, the creative economy and education.

“There was a discussion of plans to open a Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in Jakarta,” said Indonesian Consul General for Hong Kong and Macau Chalief Akbar when he accompanied Hong Kong administration head CY Leung to meet with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at the National Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.

“The President responded positively to the plan and expressed hope that the office could increase cooperation between Hong Kong and Indonesia, especially in investment and trade,” said Chalief. He also stated that the office would function as a Hong Kong Consulate, or representative office, in Indonesia.

Hong Kong receives 60 million tourists every year, among them many Indonesians. Currently, Indonesia has in place a visa free agreement with both Hong Kong and mainland China. There are also many direct flights from Hong Kong to several cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali.

“There are approximately 15 to 20 flights to Indonesia from Hong Kong, so we won't have any problems,” Chalief added.

“So far, Hong Kong only has 11 representative offices across the globe and the representative office in Indonesia will be the 12th. Hong Kong is very discerning in selecting where to open representative offices,” Chalief said.