Indonesia wants to explore and exploit oil and gas reserves in Ecuador, says Rodrigo Yepes-Enriquez, the ambassador to Indonesia from the tiny but oil-rich nation.
"Our state oil company Petroecuador and its Indonesian counterpart PT Pertamina have already signed a memorandum of understanding regarding cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector," Ambassador Yepes-Enriquez told The Jakarta Post in an interview recently at his office in Jakarta.
Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia, produces almost 1 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) while Ecuador produces around 550,000 bpd.
According to Yepes-Enriquez, Pertamina officials have already visited Ecuador three times in the last nine months to explore opportunities in oil and gas sector.
"Both companies have almost finished their negotiations. The final agreement will be signed during the possible visit of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Ecuador in November this year," said Yepes-Enriquez, who submitted his credentials to President Yudhoyono Nov. 3, 2007.
Yudhoyono is scheduled to attend the APEC Summit meeting in Peru in November; whether he will visit Quito remains uncertain.
"During our President Rafael Correa's visit to Jakarta in November 2007, that's what we agreed on, the visit of the Indonesian President to Ecuador. We are waiting for confirmation from the Indonesian side," Yepes-Enriquez added.
President Yudhoyono's visit to Quito would really boost relations between the nations, he said.
"We were also told that Indonesia will open its embassy in Quito this year. It will be very good news," Yepes-Enriquez added.
The Indonesian ambassador to Peru -- stationed in Lima -- is concurrently accredited to Ecuador.
When asked about the proposed size of Pertamina's project in Ecuador, the ambassador said it would be quite large.
"We are talking about 100,000 bpd. It would be very huge. Gas also," Yepes-Enriquez added.
Besides oil, Indonesia's PT Telkom is also planning to invest in telephone landlines in Ecuador, he added.
"Telkom has already started negotiations with its Ecuadorian counterpart," he said.
In return, Ecuador hopes to invest heavily in rose production in Indonesia.
Ecuador is the world's largest rose producer.
"Our rose producers' association president will visit Indonesia this month to see the possible sites for rose production in Bali and North Sumatra. These areas are ideal for rose production," Yepes-Enriquez said.
Ecuador has even bigger plans.
"We are already exporting roses to Japan and Indonesia. Exporting roses is a costly affair. So we want to have a huge production hub in Indonesia to supply roses to Japan and Middle Eastern countries," Yepes-Enriquez added.
Rose production is expected to be an important source of jobs in Indonesia.
"Every one hectare of land requires US$1 million investment. So Indonesia will receive a huge amount of foreign investment and rose producers will provide employment to thousands of people," Yepes-Enriquez said.
A career diplomat who has a doctorate in international law, Yepes-Enriquez has served for more than three decades in the diplomatic service, including in New York, La Paz, Havana, Washington D.C., The Hague and Beijing. His last post was as ambassador to China.
The ambassador said relations between Indonesia and Ecuador are good.
"Every thing in our relations has been growing, noticeably trade between the two countries," he added.
According to Indonesia's Central Statistics Agency (BPS), trade between Indonesia and Ecuador has tripled in the last five years, surging from $13.2 million in 2003 to $44.2 million in 2007.
Despite their good relations, the biggest problem the two nations face is lack of awareness about each other, Yepes-Enriquez said.
"We are far away. We are in the other part of the world. Many people do not know about Ecuador.
"It's a little, beautiful secret in the world," he said.
The ambassador hopes to use culture as a vehicle for promoting his country in Indonesia.
"As part of our national day celebrations, we will be organizing the Ecuadorian Food Festival at the Cafe Gran Via at the Gran Melia Hotel in Jakarta from Aug. 11 to Aug. 15," Yepes-Enriquez said.
The ambassador, who loves reading, swimming and classical music, is also planning to organize an Ecuadorian film festival in the near future.
"My main mission in Indonesia is to widen and deepen bilateral relations," he added.
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