Indonesia, Uzbekistan agree to strengthen economic cooperation

Tashkent, The Gulf Observer: Indonesia and Uzbekistan agreed to strengthen economic cooperation in various sectors, Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin stated during his courtesy call to Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Nigmatovich Aripov here on Tuesday.

“I am glad that our bilateral cooperation runs well, and we must continue to improve it. Hopefully, we can strengthen this cooperation in the future,” the Indonesian vice president stated.

Amin expects trade and industry cooperation between the two countries, reaching US$82.5 million (around Rp1.23 trillion) in 2022, to be increased in future.

“I hope we can increase this achievement by developing new (forms of cooperation in) leading sectors, such as halal products,” he remarked.

Amin noted that Indonesia, with the largest Muslim population in the world, has several superior halal products, such as food, beverages, and cosmetics.

“Let us start exploring cooperation for these products, one of which is by developing mutual recognition of halal certification of the two countries,” he stated.

Furthermore, Amin and Aripov discussed the opportunity to cooperate in palm oil and fertilizer industries as well as to bolster collaboration between the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries.

The Indonesian vice president also lauded the opening of the Tashkent-Jakarta direct flight route that could facilitate logistics transport and boost bilateral trade cooperation.

“It (the new flight route) can support export and import activities of the two countries. I hope (the number of flights in) the route can continue to be increased in the future,” he remarked.

Furthermore, he assessed that Indonesia and Uzbekistan both have vast tourism potential, including in terms of historical and religious tourism. Hence, he expects that the two countries could continue to explore and develop the potential together.

“Your Excellency (Aripov), thank you for your good reception and this productive discussion. I hope the results of this discussion can be followed up soon by related stakeholders of our respective countries,” he added.