In mid-September 2013, South Korean tire producer Hankook Tire, conducted the inauguration of its tire plant in Indonesia. The factory is located in Cikarang (West Java) and is the company's seventh production center in the world: two plants in Korea, three in China and one in Hungary. Annual production capacity of the two factories in Korea reached 46.1 million tires in 2013. Meanwhile, the three factories in China have an annual capacity of 30.8 million units each. In Hungary, annual capacity stands at 12.6 million tire units.

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Seiring dengan semakin tingginya daya beli masyarakat Indonesia, pembelian kendaraan bermotor, seperti sepeda motor dan mobil, pun terus meningkat. Tahun 2012, berdasarkan data Asosiasi Industri Sepeda Motor Indonesia (AISI), penjualan sepeda motor memang ada penurunan sebanyak 12 persen, yakni dari 8,01 juta unit pada tahun 2011 menjadi 7,06 juta unit tahun 2012. Salah satu faktor yang berada di balik penurunan itu adalah adanya kebijakan pemerintah mengenai persyaratan uang muka kredit kendaraan bermotor yang diberlakukan sejak pertengahan tahun 2012.

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Indonesia and Sweden intend to increase business relations between both countries. Last month, Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made a state visit to Sweden, while in 2012 Sweden prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt visited Indonesia. A number of topics were discussed during these visits, including trade and investment. After the discussions, both countries agreed that trade and investment between the countries should be expanded. Up to early 2013, 77 Swedish companies are in operation in Indonesia.

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Indonesia already is a strong trade partner to a number of countries in Europe. Based on data released by Indonesia's Ministry of Trade, the Netherlands and Spain are two European countries that import a considerable amount of Indonesian products and thus are important contributors to Indonesia's trade surplus in the non oil & gas sector. But other European nations, such as Germany and Russia, pressure Indonesia's trade surplus. It indicates that, despite the wide distance, Indonesia and Europe have a close and valuable trade relationship.

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With fertile soils and supportive climatic conditions, production of horticultural products (such as fruits, vegetables, or herbal medicines), should be thriving in Indonesia. In reality, however, Indonesia's horticultural production has not been able to meet domestic demand of Indonesia. Various factors lay behind this situation. But in essence it comes down to a lack of productive farmers, while demand has risen steadily. In this given situation, horticultural products should be imported. If not, prices will rise significantly.

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