ISLAMABAD:Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan, Adam Mulawarman Tugio, onSaturday said that Indonesia fully supports Pakistan to obtain FullDialogue Partner status with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN), which will provide huge economic opportunities for Pakistan with623 million of potential trade market of the region.
In an exclusive interview with APP, the Ambassador said that there were twoapproaches for achieving this goal; first is through an institutionalprocess while the second was that the existing bilateral policy betweenPakistan and individual ASEAN member countries need to be addressed throughbilateral approach.
On the institutional approach he said, ASEAN and Pakistan have alreadyadopted the action plan, adding that there were 11 areas of importance inwhich Pakistan and ASEAN countries could work together and one of the areaswas trade and investment.
The second, he said is related to using the bilateral approach such asPakistan can build bilateral relations with Indonesia and with other ASEANmember countries and added that by doing this, Pakistan would be able to beaccepted as a full dialogue partner status and it would increase political,commercial and economic links with ASEAN member states.
The Ambassador further stated that Pakistan had vast potential to increaseits exports to Indonesia, mainly textile, garments, leather products,surgical instruments, and fruits.It is pertinent to mention here that the current bilateral trade betweenIndonesia and Pakistan is around $ 2.6 billion; with balance of tradeheavily in favor of Indonesia.
Answering the question related to trade imbalance between both thecountries, the Ambassador said the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA)between the two countries has enhanced Pakistan’s exports to Indonesiawhile in future, by signing the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), trade on bothsides can be further enhanced.
Answering a question on Indonesian investment in China Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC), the Ambassador said that two Indonesian companies arealready investing in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) of Faisalabad(Allama Iqbal Industrial City) and Thatta, Sindh Dhabeji Special EconomicZone.
He said that CPEC project would emerge as a game-changer for the entireregion through connectivity to Central Asia and Western China. Moreover,Indonesia could also provide coal to power projects being established underthe China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and the domesticlarge-scale real estate and manufacturing sector.
He further said that Pakistan and Indonesia had ample opportunities forcooperation in tourism as both sides could introduce new dimensions inpromoting mutual tourism. The Ambassador said that Indonesia had provided500 scholarships for Pakistani students to study in top Indonesianuniversities.
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Talking about culture, he said that there was considerable similaritybetween the food and culture of both countries. Indonesia and Pakistanalready have a suitable mechanism for political coordination, economic anddefense cooperation, and events on social and cultural affairs, he added.
In reply to the question about the role of the Organization of IslamicCooperation (OIC), the Ambassador said the OIC’s role is significant,adding that the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had declared March15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia on a resolution introducedby Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).The Ambassador also lauded the role of Pakistan government in organizing anextraordinary session of the OIC on Afghanistan and then raising a voiceagainst Islamophobia in UNGA.
On Kashmir issue, he observed that there were no military solution and bothPakistan and India should resolve this issue through dialogue to find outan acceptable solution for both the countries.
He further stated that OIC was a vibrant forum to resolve various issuesthe Muslim countries were facing. It is making a tremendous effort toreform and improve the economic and social conditions of the member states.He said that Halal food had enormous potential from a financialperspective, but if the member states do not focus on it, the OIC marketcould be exploited by non-OIC countries.
Commenting about the economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, hesaid that Indonesia, with the collaboration of OIC members, providedhumanitarian assistance to help out our brothers and sisters inAfghanistan. Moreover, Indonesia offers scholarships to Afghan students forhigher studies in Indonesian universities, he expressed.
The Ambassador also said that now Indonesia had opened itself for tourismand there was no quarantine time for fully vaccinated visitors. Moreover,the Indonesian government has already received agreements from the relevantauthorities in Pakistan to start direct flights from Pakistan to Indonesiawhich would further promote people to people contacts, tourism and businessopportunities in the two countries.
