President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo says huge economic partnership potentials on renewable energy and other investment opportunities between Indonesia and Italy need '€œconcrete follow-ups'€ to deepen bilateral economic ties between the two countries.

The statement was made following a meeting on Monday at the State Palace between Jokowi and visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella that ended with an agreement to seek ways to identify more potentials in those fields.

'€œIndeed, this [renewable energy sector] has great potential. Therefore, I told Mattarella that I would assign one minister to specifically deal with those issues related to Indonesia and Italy in the economic, trade and investment sectors,'€ Jokowi told reporters on Monday.

Cooperation in the energy sector would also cover the use of crude palm oil as a source of renewable energy, Jokowi added.

Other than talking about the energy sector, Jokowi also said that he and Mattarella discussed efforts to boost cooperation related to the leather, fashion and furniture industries, as well as to tourism. They also talked about religion.

Citing data showing that trade between the two countries reached around US$4.01 billion in 2014 and that Italian investments in Indonesia reached $63.02 million, Jokowi highlighted that the bilateral ties between them continued to increase.

Earlier that day during a joint press conference hosted by the two presidents, Jokowi said that he was delighted to know that Mattarella also brought about 30 Italian business delegates who '€œwill witness a contract worth US$1.055 billion'€, which covered new cooperation agreements, particularly those related to the logistics, energy and infrastructure sectors, as well as to expansion of the automotive industry.

Mattarella said the two countries have agreed to identify and seek further potentials within what he considered to be already '€œexcellent bilateral relations'€ and '€œstrong economic relations'€ that would mutually benefit Indonesia and Italy.

'€œBut we have huge potentials to be tapped into in terms of cooperation,'€ Mattarella said during the press conference. '€œAnd we will boost such cooperation and will try to identify together with Indonesia those sectors and modalities that can be translated into a form of cooperation for our mutual benefit.'€

Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Franky Sibarani said the $1.055 billion business deal consisted of 11 projects, including new ones and a number of expansions of existing ones.

Yet he refused to detail the projects, saying that those are business-to-business deals that are being pushed by both governments to ensure faster realization of investments.

The two countries also signed two agreements on Monday, including on cultural cooperation and on visa exemptions for diplomatic and service passport holders.

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia