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RI to rely on economic deals with Vietnam to deepen ties

Indonesia hopes to make the best of a rare opportunity to deepen economic engagement and widen private sector linkages with Vietnam as it hosts its ASEAN neighbor’s highest authority in a two-day visit intended for discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations

Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, August 23, 2017

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RI to rely on economic deals with Vietnam to deepen ties

I

ndonesia hopes to make the best of a rare opportunity to deepen economic engagement and widen private sector linkages with Vietnam as it hosts its ASEAN neighbor’s highest authority in a two-day visit intended for discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral relations.

Nguyen Phu Trong, secretary-general of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), is visiting Indonesia from Aug. 22 to 24 to put into action a strategic partnership formed four years ago.

With a 102-strong delegation in tow and a separate business delegation intent on striking deals and forging networks in parallel with the CPV chief’s official visit to the capital, Jakarta will try to make good use of the visit.

“The moment is just right for [the visit] to Indonesia — there will be a lot of aspects of the relationship up for discussion,” said Ibnu Hadi, Indonesia’s ambassador to Vietnam, on Tuesday.

The meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Nguyen, who became CPV secretary-general in 2015, would be the first encounter between the two leaders since they took office.

Nguyen arrived on Tuesday to meet with speakers of the People’s Consultative Assembly, House of Representatives and Regional Representatives Council in separate sessions.

As Vietnam’s highest authority, Nguyen is slated to meet Jokowi for talks and a banquet on Wednesday at the State Palace. Afterwards, he is to deliver keynote speeches in front of the academic and business communities.

Nguyen will also visit Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), whose father Sukarno was known to have had a close friendship with Vietnamese revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.

The secretary-general’s visit will be the first time in almost 60 years that Vietnam’s highest authority has visited Indonesia. Ho was the last, when he met founding father Sukarno in 1959.

While Nguyen’s visit is intended to strengthen ties in the political-security sector and expand the friendship between both ruling parties, there is also a pressing need for Indonesian and Vietnamese business players to get to know each other better.

“Unfortunately, business players from both countries don’t know each other that well yet,” Ibnu told reporters in Jakarta.

Ministry officials have said the visit would be a prime opportunity for both sides to review their cooperation initiatives.

Ibnu said the visiting delegation of 17 businesses is meeting with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Investment Coordinating Board.

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