Sept. 16 – Milan and Jakarta are not so far away, given the more than €300 million exchanges between the region and the country in the past six months, divided between €175 million imports and €144 million exports. In particular, Lombardy is importing textiles and foodstuffs (respectively 36% and 22.6 % of manufacturing imports from Indonesia) and exporting metal products and chemical products (15.4% and 11.1 % of total exports to Indonesia). This is shown by an elaboration by the Chamber of Commerce of Milan on Istat data for the first six months of 2013. The main exporting Lombard city is Milan (with 48.4% of the total), followed by Bergamo (17.6%) and Varese (10.4%). Milan is also the main importer (with 64.1% of the total), with Monza and Brianza (11.3%) coming in second and third. In one year, exports from Cremona (+123.7%) and Como (+87.8 %) increased, while imports in Lecco grew by +100.4 %, as well as in Monza and Brianza (+83.9 %). As evidence of these intense economic relations, the Indonesian deputy minister for trade and enterprise, Edy Putra Irawady, took part in a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce of Milan titled “Indonesia: trade and investment opportunities,” organized by Promos, the Milan Chamber of Commerce, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Indonesian Trade Promotion Center of Milan, Assolombarda, the Italian Association for Foreign Trade (AICE) and the Institute for International Policy Studies (ISPI).
