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RI, Lithuania seek to bolster economic ties
Dalia Grybauskaitė - AFPLithuania and Indonesia are ready to share expertise and enhance their economic ties during a visit from the Lithuanian president to Indonesia on Wednesday
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Dalia Grybauskaitė - AFP
Lithuania and Indonesia are ready to share expertise and enhance their economic ties during a visit from the Lithuanian president to Indonesia on Wednesday.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will host his counterpart Dalia Grybauskaitė this week, the first of such visits since both countries forged diplomatic ties in 1993, officials from the Foreign Ministry revealed.
“This state visit will be the first since the two countries established diplomatic relations 24 years ago,” said Muhammad Anshor, the ministry’s director general for American and European affairs, on Monday.
Grybauskaitė will be accompanied by Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas and Agriculture Vice Minister Rolandas Taraškevičius during her trip.
When the state visit was first announced on Friday, ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said Indonesia was looking to increase economic ties with Lithuania, particularly in trade, renewable energy, agriculture and transportation.
The meeting is expected to produce at least two memorandum of understanding (MoUs), the first of which aims to expand and deepen existing cooperation in aircraft maintenance, Anshor said.
Just this year, PT Garuda Maintenance Facility Aero Asia (GMF) inked an agreement with PT Avia Technics Dirgantara (FL Technics Indonesia), an affiliate of Vilnius-based FL Technics from Lithuania.
Anshor said, however, that Grybauskaitė would place special importance on an MoU on energy, as she is expected to take part in a bilateral forum hosted by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
“The focus of the Lithuanian President’s visit will be on renewable energy cooperation; they are quite advanced in [processing] biomass and ethanol-based biofuels from waste,” Anshor said.
The Office of the Lithuanian President revealed last week that Grybauskaitė would participate in the energy forum “to exchange experience on the operation of LNG terminals and discuss cooperation opportunities in the area of renewable energy.”
Lithuania aims to cooperate in LNG processing with Indonesia, the world’s fourth largest exporter. According to data from the Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas), Indonesia exported 2,860 billion British thermal units per day (BBTUD) in 2016, continuing a trend of decline due to increasing domestic demand.
According to the statement by the Lithuanian presidential office, Lithuania also expects to sign agreements on cooperation in tourism and agriculture.
“This will open new opportunities for the Lithuanian businesses interested in exporting dairy and meat products, solar batteries and other products to establish themselves in the fast growing Indonesian market,” the statement said.
Arrmanatha said there was high potential for both countries to trade even despite a low trade balance. According to the Trade Ministry, bilateral trade figures reached US$38.65 million in 2016.
In terms of political consultations, both leaders are expected to raise issues such as cooperation between the European Union and Indonesia, global security and migration challenges, the presidential office said.
Before becoming president of the Baltic nation in 2009, Grybauskaitė had already amassed extensive experience dealing with the EU, having held the position of Lithuanian ambassador to the EU in 1994.
Barely a decade later, she was appointed EU commissioner for education and culture, and later as EU commissioner for financial programming and budget, even garnering praise in 2005 as Commissioner of the Year for her efforts to reform the EU budget.
A decorated economist and ambassador, Grybauskaitė also served as Lithuania’s vice finance minister from 1999 to 2000, vice foreign minister from 2000 to 2001, and finance minister from 2001 to 2004. She was born in Vilnius on March 1, 1956.
The first female president and the first president to be reelected for a second consecutive term, Grybauskaitė has a black belt in karate and speaks English, French, Polish and Russian in addition to her native Lithuanian.
