Jakarta, 27 May 2025: ERIA President Tetsuya Watanabe paid a courtesy visit on H.E. Dyah Roro Esti Widya Putri, Vice Minister of Trade of Indonesia, at her office in Jakarta.

President Watanabe expressed his appreciation for the productive exchange he shared with Vice Minister Roro during their recent meeting in Desaru, Malaysia, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Retreat. He reaffirmed ERIA’s strong commitment to supporting ASEAN’s and Indonesia’s trade and economic policy priorities.

During the meeting, President Watanabe provided an update on ERIA’s analytical contributions to the ASEAN Geoeconomics Task Force, with a particular focus on its recent assessment of the potential impacts of new US tariff measures on Southeast Asian economies.

He also introduced the ERIA School of Government and presented insights from the ASEAN SME Policy Index 2024, a joint initiative by ERIA and the OECD aimed at advancing the development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across ASEAN.

The discussion further explored strategies for boosting regional trade, fostering innovation-driven SME growth, and strengthening cooperation between ERIA and the Indonesian Ministry of Trade. President Watanabe concluded by inviting Vice Minister Roro to speak at an upcoming high-level roundtable hosted by the ERIA School of Government.