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isiting New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono held a bilateral meeting and witnessed the signing of four agreements between the two countries’ high officials at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday.

“It is an honor that His Excellency Prime Minister John Key could answer my invitation to visit Jakarta. We previously had numerous meetings in international forums but this particular meeting today is aimed at boosting ties in strategic sectors,” Yudhoyono said during a joint press conference after the bilateral meeting.

Key applauded Indonesia’s robust economic growth, calling it a tremendous opportunity for brighter cooperation.

“We highlight the areas of education, agriculture, technology and energy where we can work for mutual benefit. Our companies are keen in this market to share the technology and the skills. This can be good news for the citizens of Indonesia as well as New Zealand,” he said.

Yudhoyono said that both countries also agreed to improve cooperation in education, including by increasing the number of university-to-university partnerships.

Officials from the two countries also talked about exploring Indonesia’s geothermal resources.

Before the joint press conference, New Zealand’s Trade Minister Tim Groser and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik also signed an agreement on cooperation to develop geothermal potential.

Following the signing, PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy (PGE) and Geothermal New Zealand (Geonz) also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the development of geothermal resources in Indonesia at Jero’s office.

The agreement was expected to make PGE the largest geothermal producer in the country by 2015 or 2016.

The cooperation will include the construction of a geothermal laboratory that will be jointly operated; geological and geophysical studies to map reserves in potential regions; assistance in the implementation of the acid brine treatment at the Lahendong field in North Sulawesi; and aid in the improvement of PGE’s human resources through training and education at the University of Auckland.

“This geothermal project must be dealt with seriously because using oil-based energy currently costs a lot,” Jero said.

“New Zealand had helped Indonesia develop the first geothermal field in Kamojang, West Java, in the 1970s. Today, many technologies applied in our geothermal fields are from New Zealand,” he added.

Jero said that his ministry and the Forestry Ministry had signed an agreement allowing geothermal exploration of 28 locations across Indonesia.

Tim Groser said he predicted Indonesia would be a huge economy that would require a massive supply of energy in the future.

Indonesia is home to 40 percent of the world’s geothermal reserves with total potential of 29,000 megawatts (MW) scattered across 276 locations. However, as of today, the country can only utilize 1,226 MW or 5 percent of the total reserves.

Groser also signed an MoU with Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar under which New Zealand will set up training centers in Indonesia to help produce qualified manpower to work in the Kiwi country.

“They have many farms but they lack manpower in that area. Another example is in the livestock sector, where Indonesia has sent professional halal butchers there. Hundreds of Indonesian chefs are also distributed across the country. Similar opportunities also exist in the sectors of tourism and fisheries,” Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said.