VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: Indonesian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pahala Mansury encouraged the Indonesia-Latin America and Caribbean Countries (INA-LAC 2023) forum to expand trade and investment cooperation. That, he said, in the field of trade, total INA-LAC trade has increased by 8.9% in the last 5 years.

"In 2022, the value will reach USD 13.10 billion, up 24.4% compared to the previous year," he said in a speech at the opening of the 6th INA-LAC in Jakarta, Monday (16/10/2023).

In addition, that he said, investment between Indonesia, Latin America and the Caribbean is worth USD 11.30 million in 2022, an exponential increase from 2021 which amounted to only USD 1.89 million.

"We must take full advantage of this," he said.

"Both have enormous potential to become renewable energy centers, especially green hydrogen," he said.

In addition, Indonesia, Latin America, and the Caribbean are also considered to play an important role in the electric vehicle industry because they have abundant reserves of important minerals including nickel, copper, cobalt, and lithium.

"We must complement each other to become an important part of the global supply chain and contribute to accelerating the global energy transition," he said.

Another area that also received attention was the digital economy and creative economy. According to Pahala Mansury, the digital economy and creative economy sectors present many areas for collaboration including in the development of digital talent and digital infrastructure.(Andy Romdoni)