Jakarta, 9 June 2022 -- PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero), Tbk. or BNI (stock code: BBNI) continues to strive to develop business networks abroad by optimizing the role of BNI Overseas Branch Offices (OBO). In Japan, BNI Tokyo is proactive in seeking business opportunities by moving its office to more strategic business areas.
The new BNI Tokyo office was inaugurated on 9 June 2022 and was marked by the signing of an inscription by BNI President Director Royke Tumilaar.
Also present were BNI President Commissioner Agus Martowardojo along with BNI Board of Directors, several leaders of correspondent banks who have collaborated with BNI, including SMBC, Mizuho, MUFG, Shoko Chukin Bank, as well as Japanese companies such as APP Japan, GGFJ, Sampo Corp and representatives of the Diaspora. Indonesia in Japan, namely Kalyan Coffee, Kayu Style and Dopang.
The event continued with the Kagami Biraki procession, one of the traditions in Japan as a sign of the start of a new life with an abundance of luck.
Royke said that Japan is one of the main trading partners for Indonesia through bilateral relations that have existed since 1958. In 1959, BNI was present in Tokyo as a Representative Office which was later upgraded to a branch office so that it could serve various banking services and products.
“Of course we continue to strive to strengthen the performance of overseas businesses and improve services to local customers, including the Diaspora. One of the steps we took was to relocate the BNI Tokyo office to a more strategic location, easily accessible and in the business district, namely to Nurihiko Building South Tower, Tokyo," he said.
Royke added that BNI Tokyo has a role as a bridge between Indonesia and Japan, as reflected in its role as a liaison, especially for Japanese companies including small-medium scale investing in Indonesia.
The new BNI Tokyo office has more space than the previous office with more complete facilities. Like a meeting room that can be used to serve the needs of Japanese companies when conducting business meetings with Indonesian companies.
In addition, BNI Tokyo provides a place to promote superior products of Indonesian MSMEs as well as facilitate business matching between buyers from Japan and sellers from the country.
"In fact, to reduce logistics costs and make MSME products more competitive, we have also collaborated with the Indonesian Embassy in setting up a Distribution Center. This distribution center uses a dropship strategy which is considered effective for MSMEs," he said.
The data shows that Japan has great business potential for Indonesia. Indonesia's trade volume with Japan is quite high, in 2021 it reached USD 32.49 billion. The large flow of FDI to Indonesia, with an estimated population of Indonesian Diaspora at 56 thousand people and the large number of Indonesian-related companies in Japan, is a potential target market.
As of the first quarter of 2022, BNI Tokyo's assets were recorded at USD 946 million with a composition of Indonesia-related businesses of 96.91%. BNI already has an XPORA service that synergizes BNI's MSME customers in Indonesia with potential markets abroad.
In this context, BNI Tokyo is actively involved in the SME Center in Japan which is a collaboration between SOEs in Japan and the Indonesian Embassy to support SMEs in Indonesia Go Global.
“BNI Tokyo also facilitates Indonesian Diaspora entrepreneurs who need financial support to increase their business capacity. It is hoped that BNI Tokyo can become a catalyst for the development of Diaspora-owned businesses, become a business bridge between Indonesia and the East Asia Region, and make a real contribution to supporting national economic growth," he added.