Indonesia and Armenia agreed on Tuesday to strengthen their bilateral cooperation by signing three documents on education, visa exemption for diplomatic or service passport holders and mutual cooperation.

The agreements were signed during a meeting between Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and her Armenian counterpart, Edward Nalbandyan, at the ministry.

“By having these three new documents about cooperation, we are confident that we will see better relations ahead,” Retno said.

She said that she was “very glad to observe two Armenian students have been in Indonesia by using a scholarship from the Indonesian government”.

She deemed that people-to-people contact would facilitate the efforts of the two countries to strengthen their bilateral ties.

The two countries had also discussed efforts to boost economic cooperation between them, she said.

According to the report of international trade center Trademap, Indonesia has exported coffee, tea, spices and paper, among other things, to Armenia.

The total value of Indonesia’s exports to Armenia last year was US$25.8 million, a decline from about $26.5 million in 2014.

The combined export value of the coffee, tea and spices was the biggest compared to other products, amounting to $19.5 million in 2015, the Trademap report shows.

“We still have ample room to strengthen the trade cooperation,” Retno said.

Retno said that Armenian business delegations from various industries, including energy, construction, customer goods and agriculture, had visited Trade Expo Indonesia in October, leading to concrete results.

“We want to see more and more business exchanges between Indonesia and Armenia,” she said. “A year later, Armenian opened the embassy in Jakarta.”

Nalbandian’s visit to Indonesia was his second. He was first here in 2012.

“Today’s visit is aimed at further strengthening existing business relations, exploring new areas of cooperation, enhancing interaction in multilateral forums, boosting economic ties [and] expanding cultural exchanges,” he said.

He added that the two countries had also agreed to promote the tourism of both countries.

Not many Armenians visit Indonesia, mainly because of the technical difficulties in acquiring Indonesian visas.

Indonesia does not have an embassy in the Armenian capital of Yerevan. Those who wish to get one need to go to the Indonesian Embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. Meanwhile, Indonesians are eligible for a visa-on-arrival upon reaching Armenia. (sha)

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