Minibus: Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi (center) gives Bangladeshi Ambassador to Indonesia Azmal Kabil (right) a miniature model of the bus Indonesia is sending to the South Asian nation, as chief executive of bus manufacturer CV Laksana, Iwan Herianto Arman, looks on
inibus: Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi (center) gives Bangladeshi Ambassador to Indonesia Azmal Kabil (right) a miniature model of the bus Indonesia is sending to the South Asian nation, as chief executive of bus manufacturer CV Laksana, Iwan Herianto Arman, looks on.(JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
Indonesia has made a step forward in its goal to enter the South Asian transportation and infrastructure markets by sending its first shipment of locally made buses to Bangladesh.
The four buses were ceremonially handed over on Thursday by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi to Bangladeshi Ambassador to Indonesia Azmal Kabir at JIExpo Kemayoran in Central Jakarta.
Swedish manufacturer Scania provided the chassis and engines for the buses, while the bodies and interior fit-out were completed at the CV Laksana factory in Central Java.
A further 10 double decker buses are expected to be sent off in the future, bringing the total value of the purchase to US$808,000.
“The send-off of the first four buses represents just one of the concrete results of the commitment between our leaders,” Retno said during the ceremony.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo met with his Bangladeshi counterpart Abdul Hamid in Dhaka last year to secure the deal, and has expressed a strong interest in boosting exports to untapped “nontraditional markets” in other regions.
He kicked off 2018 with a tour of South Asia, in which he tried to pave the way for Indonesian infrastructure, transportation and energy companies to penetrate markets in Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
To the latter he offered to sell buses after the initial success of delivering 15 train cars from an order of 250 from state-owned train manufacturer PT INKA. Indonesia is now in talks with Sri Lanka for the purchase of 90 train cars.
Retno also said Indonesia was currently exploring the possibility of establishing a preferential trade agreement with Bangladesh that she hoped would be signed by 2020.
“I hope that it will be the start of a lot of cooperation between Indonesia and Bangladesh in the future, as well as provide inspiration for Indonesian companies to expand to such potential markets,” she said.
The Bangladeshi ambassador said there were many other business opportunities ready for exploration between the two countries, and expressed hope that companies from both countries would seize these “golden” opportunities to boost bilateral trade.
Bangladesh was among the largest contributors to Indonesia’s trade surplus in the South Asian region alongside India and Pakistan, said Ferdy Piay, the Foreign Ministry’s director for South and Central Asian affairs.
Last year, Indonesia booked a trade surplus of $1.79 billion with Bangladesh, just behind its surplus with Pakistan of $1.8 billion. Indonesia also has a $8.7 billion trade surplus with India.
“We have many cooperation [initiatives] with India but we want to increase exports of our strategic industry products to Pakistan and Bangladesh in particular,” he said.
Ferdy said entry into the South Asian market would benefit Indonesian producers of value-added products, including strategic industry products in the transportation and infrastructure sectors, which often had higher yields than flagship exports like palm oil and coal and offered multiplier effects such as job creation.
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