Indonesia and Sri Lanka are to further strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.The Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dewi Gustina Tobing held talks with Foreign Secretary, Prof. Jayanath Colombage, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“At the meeting, the Indonesian Ambassador and Prof. Colombage agreed to explore potential cooperation to strengthen further bilateral relations between the two countries and on regional and international fora,” Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Colombo,Heru Prayitno said.
Ambassador Dewi and Prof. Colombage also shared information on the historical ties between Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
The Ambassador further noted various opportunities for cooperation with Sri Lanka, considering that Indonesia is rich in natural resources by producing processed industry, semi-finished goods, near-finished and finished goods beneficial to Sri Lanka.
In addition, Ambassador Dewi updated the Foreign Secretary on the process to commence the Indonesia-Sri Lanka Preferential Trade Agreement (ISL-PTA) negotiations discussed with the Sri Lankan Minister of Trade, Bandula Gunawardane.
“The negotiations are important in intensifying cooperation between Indonesia and Sri Lanka, especially in the economic sectors, including trade and industry,” Ambassador Dewi said.
At the meeting, they also discussed the 70th anniversary of Indonesia-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations and the plan to hold the 3rd Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation.
In a previous meeting with Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa recently, 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.
They 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.
