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ewly appointed British Ambassador to Indonesia Moazzam Malik has urged Indonesia to do more to promote its culture, as well as business opportunities, to the British public.

Malik said despite the richness of Indonesian culture, the country had been '€œshy'€ of promoting its heritage, which resulted in a relative lack of knowledge among the British public about Indonesia.

'€œWhen you come to Indonesia you come across a grand culture: people have talent as musicians, dancers and intellectuals,'€ Malik, who was born and raised in the UK and is of Pakistani descent, said at his residence in central Jakarta on Friday.

However, Malik said the potency had not been well promoted. '€œI would like to see more Indonesian dancers and musicians, and more collaboration,'€ he said.

Broadening people-to-people interaction between Indonesia and the UK was one aspect he would like to highlight in the coming years, particularly in culture and education.

In education, the British government has decided to increase the quota for Indonesians applying for Chevening Scholarships to 70, up from 30 scholarships in 2014.

The two countries will also explore sports cooperation as Jakarta will host the 2018 Asian Games. British firms have experience of organizing large sporting events, such as the 2012 London Olympics and the Commonwealth Games.

Infrastructure development, particularly in the finance sector, will also be a priority, as Malik described it as being '€œin line'€ with the goals of the current Indonesian government to improve its economic infrastructure.

'€œWhen I talked with various British and Indonesian companies, all of them wanted to see changes in regulations. They want more stable, consistent and predictable regulations to seize the large investment opportunities in Indonesia and improve prospects,'€ he noted.

To help this development, Malik invited Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro and Bank Indonesia Governor Agus Martowardojo to visit the UK to learn how the UK regulates its financial sector.

Malik also hoped that Indonesia and Europe would discuss a possible Free Trade Agreement in the next three years, due to the higher number of Indonesian exports to Europe than European imports to Indonesia.

Trade between Indonesia and the UK had reached US$2.7 billion at the end of 2013.

Malik took up his appointment in October, succeeding Mark Canning CMG. Malik also covers the ASEAN region and will be non-resident ambassador to Timor Leste.

He submitted his credentials to President Joko Widodo at Merdeka Palace on Thursday.