Indonesia to increase imports from India
Indian companies should use the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) platform to understand Indonesia while Indonesian companies should use it to understand India and the opportunities available, said External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.
The Minister said he was confident that with CII office support to industry, the goal of US$50 billion, in terms of both bilateral trade and investment by the year 2025 will be achieved.
He made the remarks at the inauguration of CII office in Jakarta on 5 Sept 2019. He was joined at the inauguration by Thomas Lembong, Chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board – BKPM.
In order to improve bilateral economic relations between India and Indonesia an immediate step could be to promote Indian tourism to Indonesia, added BKPM Chairman Lembong.
He also said that Indonesia needs to improve both its imports from India and investment in India.
Ambassador of India to Indonesia, Pradeep Rawat expressed his happiness over the opening of the CII office on the model of support by Indian and Indonesian industry.
Dhruv Sawhney, Past President, CII and Chairman & Managing Director of Triveni Turbines, stated that CII will be the one-point contact for Indian industry to collaborate with its counterparts and be part of Indonesia’s growth story and for Indonesian companies to connect with India.
This is part of CII’s new initiative to open offices in select emerging markets to facilitate Indian industry in both trade and investment in these countries.
Separately, Minister Jaishankar had detailed discussions with the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, across a broad spectrum of bilateral relations pursuant to the establishment of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2018.
Both leaders discussed steps to deepen bilateral cooperation in the Maritime Domain, including tangible steps to deepen connectivity between Andaman and Nicobar islands and Indonesia’s Aceh Province.
In this regard, both Leaders welcomed the adoption of the Terms of Reference of the Joint Task Force meeting on Andaman Aceh connectivity and looked forward to the holding of the First meeting of the JTF in Indonesia at an early date within this year.
Jaishankar congratulated Minister Marsudi on leading the discussions on “ASEAN’s Collective Outlook on the Indo-Pacific” bringing then to a successful conclusion.
He reiterated the convergence between India and Indonesia on the Indo-Pacific, as agreed in the Shared Vision of Maritime Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific between the two maritime neighbors.
Jaishankar also thanked Marsudi for hosting the inaugural function at Indonesian Foreign Office premises to mark the commemorative event on establishment of 70th Anniversary of Diplomatic Ties.
He extended an invitation to Minister Marsudi to visit India for the Joint Commission Meeting later this year.
During the visit, the EAM also met senior leadership of the Indonesian Government, including with General (Retd.) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, and General (Retd) Wiranto, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.
Jaishankar called on Vice President Jusuf Kalla and discussed steps to further scale up the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and Indonesia.
He extended an invitation to Vice President for joining the launch of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) initiative at UNGA.
EAM along with Indonesian leadership also jointly released a commemorative stamp on Mahatma Gandhi, as part of the ongoing celebrations to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma. Fiinews.com
