Indonesia and Lanka ready to enhance bilateral cooperation

Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia, Dewi Gustina Tobing, paid a courtesy visit to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa last week to discuss issues including enhancing economic cooperation between the two countries, mainly on trade, investment, and tourism.

Ambassador Dewi Tobing met with Prime Minister Rajapaksa at his office in the presence of Foreign Affairs Minister, Prof. G L Peiris, and Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Colombo, Heru Prayitno.

During the discussion, Ambassador Dewi Tobing offered Indonesia’s electric motorcycles to Sri Lanka, considering that Sri Lanka is intensively promoting environmentally friendly technology. Besides that, Indonesia’s aluminum products are also encouraged to support the Sri Lankan industry.

Both also explored the future cooperation not only on trading but also partnerships or joint ventures by investing in Sri Lanka. In this case, it will supply the Sri Lankan domestic market and utilize the position of Sri Lanka as an economic hub in the South and Central Asia region.

In the agriculture sector, like Sri Lanka, Indonesia puts a lot of effort into ensuring the sustainability of vegetable oil plantations. In this conjunction, Ambassador Dewi Tobing conveyed Indonesia’s readiness to discuss and share experiences to develop a sustainable agriculture sector, especially vegetable oil plantations.

During the discussion, both the Prime Minister and Ambassador committed to further strengthening bilateral cooperation, especially by taking advantage of the momentum to commemorate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Sri Lanka.

Both also emphasised strengthening regional cooperation to enhance the two countries’ role in the region.