U.S. Clean Energy Trade Mission Visits Indonesia
Washington - The United States and Indonesia can work together on clean energy development that benefits businesses in both countries and creates a more sustainable environment, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke says.
"The health of the environment and health of the economy go hand-in-hand, and the United States is committed to actively partnering with the Republic of Indonesia on issues of vast importance to our two nations," Locke said at a May 26 event in Muara Baru, a fishing port in North Jakarta.
Locke was in Jakarta with representatives of 10 U.S. clean energy companies as part of the Obama administration's first Cabinet-level trade mission. The 10-day mission previously visited Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, where Locke participated in the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/May/20100525132213ptellivremos3.084964e-02.html ).
Witnessing the signing of the Indonesia-U.S. Ocean Exploration Partnership, Locke said the pact is an "important step in a broader U.S.-Indonesia collaboration on science and technology."
The first agreement of its kind, according to the Commerce Department, the partnership focuses exploration resources in the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone and surrounding oceans. Through a better understanding of the marine environment, the two countries expect to improve ocean management and conservation, and enhance public understanding of Indonesia's unique ocean resources.
COOPERATION ON CLEAN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
"By mid-century, global energy use is likely to double," Locke told a group of students from the University of Indonesia's Depok campus in southern Jakarta May 26. "Both Indonesia and the United States can benefit from cooperating on clean energy development," Locke said. "The potential for new business and new job creation is simply enormous."
The 10 U.S. companies represented in Locke's trade mission "are at the vanguard of a movement to meet the world's clean energy needs," said Locke. Meetings with Indonesian business and government representatives identified new opportunities for cooperation between U.S. businesses and their Indonesian counterparts.
Energy produced from clean sources accounts for 7 percent of Indonesia's current energy-generating capacity. The country has pledged to achieve 15 percent by 2025. Locke told students that U.S. companies "can help Indonesia meet its ambitious energy efficiency goals while also spurring the creation of new jobs here and in the United States."
However, "Many of the technologies needed to successfully cope with climate change and carbon reduction simply don't exist yet," he said.
"That's where the students, researchers and the scientists of the University of Indonesia come in. The United States, Indonesia and the entire world are counting on bright, motivated people like all of you to discover these new energy technologies," Locke said. "With your talent, your creativity and your ingenuity, you can be a leader in the effort to combat climate change. And certainly, the university's green campus initiative - with its focus on global warming - will be an important catalyst for action."
"You can be the innovators and entrepreneurs that help us build a 21st century, clean energy economy," the secretary of commerce told the students.
After a meeting with Indonesian Minister of Trade Mari Pangestu, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa and several other Indonesian officials and business representatives, Locke told the American Chamber of Commerce in Jakarta, "U.S. businesses on our trade mission look forward to pursuing new business opportunities in Indonesia that will benefit the economies of both our countries while creating a more sustainable environment."
The fastest-growing sector of the $6 trillion global energy market is clean, green energy. With 40 percent of the world's known geothermal resources, Indonesia "has tremendous potential to tap biomass, hydropower, wind and solar resources." By bringing together U.S. and Indonesian know-how, "there is also tremendous potential in helping Indonesia more efficiently use all of its energy resources," Locke said.
"This is our chance to join together to write a new chapter - a better, more hopeful chapter - in the world's history," he said.
