Australia and Indonesia must stop looking past each other for business opportunities, Trade Minister Andrew Robb has warned.
Mr Robb told the Indonesia Business Summit in Canberra on Friday it was unacceptable only 250 Australian businesses had a presence in the archipelago.
He hoped his historic business delegation to Jakarta next week, when he will be joined by 360 of his "closest friends", would help Australia expand its footprint.
The Australian business response to the trade mission had been so overwhelming, a cap had to be put on numbers, and he hoped it would generate swift results.
"There is no reason we can't have 1000 companies there in the foreseeable future," he told AAP.
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"We have 360 in Dubai and you can throw a stone across Dubai."
Asked what the barriers were to more Australian business involvement with Indonesia, Mr Robb cited outdated fears from the 1990s about investment safety and government policy changes.
"All that period has passed," he said.
Mr Robb praised the efforts of successive Indonesian governments to clean up corruption.
He sees much scope for Australian medium and small companies to expand to Indonesia.
Two-way trade between the two nations is worth $15 billion a year, compared to the $150 billion between China and Australia.
Food, infrastructure, education, resources and energy were key areas Mr Robb identified for increased business ties.
Indonesia and its population of 255 million people was a market that could no longer be ignored, he said.
The trade delegation follows Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's first bilateral meeting with Indonesia President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on Thursday.
The pair made an impromptu visit to a textiles market.
"He's never taken so many selfies in all his life," Mr Robb said, hailing the visit a huge success.
Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board spokesman Himawan Hariyoga said both countries were overcoming challenging dynamics and the future looked exciting.
"We need each other," he told the summit.
Assistant Agriculture Minister Anne Ruston told the summit Australia and Indonesia could learn lessons from each other.
Australia could help the southeast Asian nation on food security, she said.
Indonesia, in turn, could provide Australia with expertise on how to develop northern Australia, especially ways to take advantage of opportunities in the tropics.
