VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Ministry of Trade (Kemendag) has affirmed that Indonesia is committed to encouraging Bangladesh to become a developing country in South Asian region through cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, investment, and trade. Director General of National Export Development of the Ministry of Trade, Arlinda, stated that the Indonesian government is ready to cooperate in strategic sectors with Bangladesh through the airport and infrastructure development management.

"President Joko Widodo hopes that the cooperation will boost Bangladesh into a developing country and, together with Indonesia, will improve the welfare of the peoples of both countries through economic, investment, and trade cooperation that benefit both countries," Arlinda stated in a written statement received in Jakarta on Saturday.

The statement was delivered during the business forum activities at Le Meridien Hotel, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The business forum is part of a series of trade missions to Bangladesh, which is a follow-up of Widodo`s visit in January 2018.

For the Bangladesh trade mission, the Ministry of Trade brought 93 business actors from 43 companies in various production sectors or industries, such as oil and gas, CPO, fashion, food and beverage, automotive, property, airport services, furniture, construction, and infrastructure services.

These Indonesian businessmen established trade communications with 122 Bangladeshi buyers, consisting of 103 importing companies and 19 members of Bangladeshi chamber of commerce. The Ministry of Trade organized a trade mission to Bangladesh from April 26 to 28, 2018, as part of an effort to open export markets to non-traditional countries.

These series of trade mission activities consists of business forum, business matching, and support of the implementation of Indonesia Fair 2018 held by Embassy of Dhaka. The business forum in Dhaka serves as a meeting place for Indonesian and Bangladeshi businessmen to get to know each other and establish business relationships.

After the business forum, entrepreneurs from both countries meet in a business matching session to carry out business and investment transactions. The Indonesian delegation also visited the palm oil importer, Meghna Group of Industries (MGI). To strengthen trade cooperation, Arlinda also invited Bangladesh entrepreneurs to participate in Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) from Oct 24 to 28, 2018, at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD, Tangerang.

It also invites Bangladeshi businessmen to travel to various exotic tourist destinations in Indonesia, such as Kuta Beach in Bali, Raja Ampat in Papua, and Mandalika in West Nusa Tenggara. (antara)