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RI, Australia, Timor Leste in bid to unleash regional vitality

Indonesia, Australia and Timor Leste are taking further steps toward strengthening and deepening cooperation with a plan to create regional connectivity, particularly linking eastern Indonesia, Timor Leste and Australia’s Northern Territory

Yohanna Ririhena (The Jakarta Post)
New York
Thu, October 4, 2012

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RI, Australia, Timor Leste in bid to unleash regional vitality

I

ndonesia, Australia and Timor Leste are taking further steps toward strengthening and deepening cooperation with a plan to create regional connectivity, particularly linking eastern Indonesia, Timor Leste and Australia’s Northern Territory.

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said a lot of effort had been put into the trilateral relations between Indonesia, Timor Leste and Australia. However, the three were committed to bringing relations into a new and more fruitful phase with unified links, like connecting dots.

The main target is to develop connectivity in air links, sea links, the environment, telecommunications and education. As a first step, Australia and Indonesia have agreed to revitalize the Darwin-Kupang flight, following the Darwin-Dili route that has been established.

“Once established, the link will be Kupang-Dili-Darwin.,” he said. Marty brushed aside suggestions that the move was a first step to creating a free-trade area for the three countries. “It is regional connectivity. The links among the three countries will create momentum for economic prosperity for the three countries, and have multiplier effects for others,” Marty said on Monday.

Air links and sea links are expected to open more opportunities. Universities in Darwin, eastern Indonesia and Timor Leste will be able to conduct joint research and other beneficial activities.

In a trilateral meeting on Friday, Marty and his counterparts, Australia’s Bob Carr and Timor Leste’s Juan Luis Guterres agreed to begin identification of benefits and challenges.

For this purpose, Indonesia was taking the initiative to make a scorecard and set up a master plan of trilateral connectivity.

The efforts would also be in line with the domestic program in which eastern Indonesia’s connectivity is being developed under the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI) masterplan.

Through this program, the government plans to significantly increase infrastructure and connectivity throughout the archipelago, in order to cut high transportation costs, while at the same time, stimulating more rapid economic growth evenly throughout the regions within the country.

“We will get more benefits if we sharpen our connectivity more systematically. We need to unify all the potential,” Marty said.

This is also expected to energize links that have been established bilaterally.

Indonesia and Australian have agreed to embark on a round of negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) between the two countries and set a bilateral trade target of US$15 billion by 2015. The two countries enjoyed about $11 billion of trade in 2011.

Aside from the economic benefits, the link is expected to create a good environment as neighbors.

Easier transportation should strengthen people-to-people contacts, which is an important aspect in bilateral and trilateral relations. If problems arise, strong relations among peoples are a good factor in easing tensions.

“We have to develop the habit of thinking as three. There are problems that can not be resolved on our own, but can be resolved through trans boundary cooperation,” Marty said.

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