Georgia and Indonesia are committed to strengthening their diplomatic ties, with the latter planning to open a diplomatic mission in Tbilisi by 2020.

A decision to open an extension office of the Indonesian embassy was revealed by Villages, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Eko Putro Sandjojo during a diplomatic reception to celebrate Georgia's National Day on Wednesday evening.

Eko, however, did not elaborate on the status of the extension office.

While Georgia already has an embassy in Jakarta, bilateral relations with Georgia are conducted by the Indonesian Embassy in Kyiv, which is also responsible for relations with Armenia.

Nevertheless, Georgian Ambassador to Jakarta Irakli Asashvili welcomed the plan to open an extension office in Tbilisi.

“Although this will not be a fully fledged embassy at this point, it will be the first diplomatic representation in Georgia from ASEAN,” he said at the reception.

Georgia declared its independence from the Russian Empire on May 26, 1918, only to be incorporated into the Soviet Union on Feb. 25, 1921.

The Caucasus nation only declared its independence from the Soviets on April 9, 1991, in a move that was finalized on Dec. 25, 1991.

After reclaiming its independence, it opened bilateral ties with Indonesia in 1993. Georgia opened its first embassy in Southeast Asia in Jakarta in 2012, followed by Malaysia in 2013, with plans to open an embassy in Vietnam this year.

“As a result of opening an embassy in Jakarta, every year we observe rapidly growing partnership in all areas, including political ties, economy, culture and enhancement of people-to-people connections,” said Asashvili.

“Meanwhile, relations are swiftly expanding between different line agencies and parliaments of our countries.”

Both countries also conduct bilateral consultations on a regular basis.

The latest consultation was held in Yogyakarta in March, when both countries agreed to improve cooperation in the economy, trade and investment and people-to-people contact, Eko said.

He said bilateral trade had reached a value of around US$60 million in 2016 and expected the value to grow to $100 million in five years’ time.

“This makes Indonesia Georgia’s main trading partner in ASEAN,” he said, adding that Indonesia was promoting closer cooperation between Georgia and ASEAN.

He pointed out that both Georgia and Indonesia were in strategic locations. Being in the Caucasus, Georgia is located between Europe and Asia, while Indonesia is between Asia and Australia.

Eko also said there were other forms of cooperation, such as in bureaucratic reform, public service and parliamentary relations.

“The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry and Jakarta's city administration, for example, cooperate with Georgia with a one-stop service,” he said.

Asashvili said his country would like to see more people from the two countries visit each other.

“We exert all efforts to facilitate an increase in the number of Indonesian visitors to Georgia and Georgian visitors to Indonesia. I am very happy that we have big progress in this direction too,” he said.

“In the coming months and years, we expect that these positive trends will continue, and we will see further advancements of relations in these areas.”

Deputy Foreign Minister AM Fachir and House of Representatives lawmakers Yasonna Laoly and Muhammad Farhan also attended the reception.

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