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RI, Argentina agree to bolster ties
Indonesia and Argentina have renewed their commitment to bolstering bilateral ties with wide-ranging partnerships that are expected to improve both economic and people-to-people relations between the two countries
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span>Indonesia and Argentina have renewed their commitment to bolstering bilateral ties with wide-ranging partnerships that are expected to improve both economic and people-to-people relations between the two countries.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo welcomed Argentinian President Mauricio Macri at the Bogor Palace in West Java on Wednesday, which marked Macri’s first visit to Indonesia since he took office in 2015.
The bilateral meeting between the two leaders largely focused on economic matters, including measures to improve trade and cooperation in agriculture and strategic industry.
“We have discussed various measures to balance the trade relations between the two countries, including through a countertrade [scheme],” Jokowi said in a joint press briefing with Macri.
Jokowi, who in the past has encouraged more exports to nontraditional markets, including to Latin America, asserted Argentina’s strategic position as the second-biggest trade partner of Indonesia in Latin America.
Bilateral trade between Jakarta and Buenos Aires was recorded at US$1.68 billion in 2018, a 17.96 percent increase from 2017.
Exports from Indonesia to Argentina mostly comprise footwear and rubber-made products.
However, there was also a deficit on Indonesia’s side last year, amounting to $1.2 billion.
Jokowi asked Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita to explore countertrade schemes last month, including by encouraging Argentina to import more strategic products and services to slash the trade deficit, said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
For instance, she said, Argentina has purchased CN212 light transport aircraft produced by Indonesia’s state-owned aircraft producer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI). Therefore, Indonesia offered Argentina services for aircraft maintenance by PT Garuda Maintenance Facility (GMF) Aero Asia.
Indonesia has also offered Argentina more aircraft produced by PTDI and trains from state-owned train manufacturing company PT Industri Kereta Api Indonesia (INKA), as well as more agricultural commodities such as mangosteens, pineapples and salak.
“If we are relying only on commodities, it will be hard to reduce the trade deficit,” Retno said. “Therefore, in this case, we are offering more manufactured products, which will hopefully help reduce the deficit faster.”
In a bid to bring business players from the two countries closer together, Indonesia has invited Argentina businesspeople to participate in a Jakarta trade expo in October. During the event, Indonesia will also hold its first business forum with Latin American and Caribbean countries, as Jakarta looks forward to exploring more opportunities to enter the markets in the South American region.
Macri said he acknowledged the huge potential between the two countries to improve partnerships in various scopes. He also expressed an interest in exporting more agricultural and manufactured products from Indonesia.
“[Argentina] also wants to revamp our visa system so that the number of Indonesian and Argentine people who travel between the two countries can further increase,” Macri said.
His statement came after Jakarta raised concerns in the bilateral meetings over Argentina’s visa system for Indonesia, particularly the 45-waiting period for applicants.
This issue could hamper people-to-people contact between the two countries.
“The Foreign Ministry and Home Affairs [Ministry of Argentina] will follow up the results of the meeting between the two presidents,” Retno said.
