Consul General of Republic of Indonesia, Rossalis Rusman Adenan has informed that the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on October 21, 2013 at the World Trade Center Building in Jakarta to further strengthen trade ties between the two brotherly nations.
Speaking at a meeting during his visit to KCCI, CG pointed out that Pakistan and Indonesia enjoy strong bilateral relations as trade volume continues to show rising trend and stood at $1.6 billion last year against $1.1 billion witnessed earlier. Earlier, while welcoming the Consul General, President KCCI A. Abdullah Zaki said that the bilateral trade relations between Pakistan and Indonesia are expanding rapidly as both governments have put significant efforts in implementing PTA and are looking forward to turn this PTA into FTA in near future.
During 2012-13, Pakistan exported $211.16 million worth goods to Indonesia whereas Pakistan's import from Indonesia stood at $700.31 million, indicating a trade deficit of $489.15 million. To further improve trade ties, President KCCI suggested exchange of trade delegations, individual visits of businessmen, undertaking joint ventures, better travelling facilities and holding single country exhibitions in each other countries.
Indonesia can also take advantage of Gwadar Port by establishing production base in Pakistan and tap the huge untapped markets of South Asia, Central Asian Republics and Middle East, he added. Highlighting various initiatives undertaken to enhance trade ties between the two countries, Indonesian Envoy said that Pakistan-Indonesia Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) has played an important role in improving trade volume.
Pakistan-Indonesia PTA paved way for Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that is likely in the next two years, which will result in doubling the existing trade volume. He said that serious efforts were being made to enhance volume of two-way trade between both countries. Indonesia is an attractive investment destination for many reasons, therefore, Pakistani businessmen should avail the opportunities and enhance their interaction with their Indonesian counterparts, he added.
Touching upon the overall performance of Indonesian economy, Rossalis informed that his country's economy has continued to witness strong growth rate of more than 6 percent during the past 6 years owing to various reforms implemented by the Indonesian government in all sectors of the economy. Elaborating the reasons behind exceptional economic growth, he added that this strong growth rate can be attributed to 60 million middle class population of Indonesia who were playing the role of an engine for the economy.
He further informed that the Indonesian government has also introduced reforms in bureaucracy and established an Anti-corruption Commission to effectively deal with incidents of corruption at all levels, besides encouraging businesses. While appreciating KCCI's effort to promote positive image of Pakistan through My Karachi Exhibition, the Consul General noted that Indonesian businessmen have been regularly participating in this mega event and Indonesian business community's participation continues to show rising trend. A total of 25 businessmen participated in KCCI's exhibition and more Indonesian businessmen are likely to participate in next year's exhibition.
He said that Karachi is an entry points for penetrating in this region and Indonesian Consulate has been actively clarifying all misconceptions about Karachi which are mainly being projected by the western and even local media. Responding to a query regarding what strategy is being pursued by Indonesia to stabilise Indonesian rupiah so that it could not have a negative impact on Indonesia economy, Rossalis mentioned that Indonesian government focused on attracting foreign investment and devised strategy to reduce imports that not only helps in stabilizing Indonesian rupiah against dollar but also ensures that the economy continues to display strong growth. Senior Vice President KCCI, Muffasar Atta Malik, Vice President KCCI, Muhammad Idrees, Former President KCCI, A. Q. Khalil and other Managing Committee members were also present at the meeting.-PR
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