C

anadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expressed his interest in visiting Indonesia, an Indonesian government official has said.

Indonesian Ambassador to Canada Teuku Faizasyah said Trudeau and his government had recognized Indonesia as a middle power country that had become a leading state in the ASEAN region, not to mention the fact that Indonesia is also among the G20 group of major economies.

“There are so many similarities in values and interests. Indonesia is also regarded as a middle power country,” he said on Thursday evening. “That makes it natural for Indonesia to become a good partner of Canada.”

Moreover, both Indonesia and Canada were democratic countries that promoted tolerance, he said.

PM Trudeau and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo had established a close personal relationship. It was partly on this basis that the former had shown his interest in visiting Indonesia, Faizasyah said.

But the odds of the popular young leader visiting Indonesia anytime soon remained slim, as Canadian political parties were preparing for the next federal election in 2019, another source revealed to The Jakarta Post.

Even so, Faizasyah said Indonesia and Canada had high potential for mutual investment. Some Indonesian companies had invested in Canada’s pulp and paper industry, while others were exploring opportunities in mining, he said. Canada, meanwhile, had remained visible in the archipelagic nation through insurance company Manulife.

There were many more opportunities to be explored, the envoy said. “The potential is big, but there is a psychological hindrance, because of the distance,” he said. “Indonesian investors tend to be hesitant, because they consider Canada to be too far away, and vice versa.”