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Indonesia sees Oman as potential trade, investment partner: Ambassador
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Indonesian Ambassador to Oman Musthofa Taufik Abdul Latif (www.kemlu.go.id/muscat/id/Indonesian Embassy)
O
man has the potential to become a strong partner in trade and investment among other Middle Eastern countries, an opportunity that should be cultivated to help reduce the trade deficit, the Indonesian ambassador to Oman has said.
Ambassador Musthofa Taufik Abdul Latif told The Jakarta Post that his side was discussing stronger bilateral trade between the two countries with his Omani counterpart.
“We are trying to increase trade; we will try to create a free trade agreement [FTA] [with Oman],” he said on the sidelines of the Oman Vision 2040 national conference in Muscat in late January.
Musthofa said Indonesia had proposed to create an FTA with member countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, originally known as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
However, he said, the plan was met with uncertainty as council members had disputes between themselves regarding the diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar.
The blockade, which has been in place since June 2017, was enforced by Qatar’s neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as it was accused of supporting terrorism, among other things.
As an alternative, Musthofa said, Indonesia would be better to nurture bilateral trade with Oman rather than relying on an FTA with all of the countries in the gulf.
