VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOInews, Jakarta: Deputy Head of the Indonesian Representative Office in Vienna, Akio Alfiano Tamala, is optimistic that Indonesia-Austria relations are becoming stronger considering the seventy years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Regarding how the two countries relation is developed, especially in the context of these 70 years, I am optimistic that relations between Indonesia and Austria in the future will be closer, increasingly improving, and both countries can certainly benefit from this good relationship," said Akio Alfiano to Voice of Indonesia, Tuesday (5/3) in Jakarta.

Akio believes that diplomatic relations between the two countries are getting stronger due to various factors such as the similarity of the Non-Aligned principles adhered to by both countries.

"I think there are actually three capitals that we can use as opportunities to improve relations, especially politically, as stated earlier, the two countries shared similarities, neutrality so that they can both stand in the same position, to discuss, to sit down and talk about world problems will also be more convenient because they have same principles," he said.

Apart from that, Akio assessed that the interest of the Indonesian-Austrian people in getting to know each other's culture is also an asset for improving bilateral relations.

"(Besides) people-to-people contact (between the people of the two countries), they also intensively promote music, through classical music of course in Indonesia," continued Akio.

"And then the last thing is that we hope that with (the optimization of) this port, economically our relations with Austria will further improve our trade relations with Austria," said Akio Alfiano.

Akio Alfiano Tamala outlined the prospects for cooperation between Indonesia and Austria, including in the fields of environmental technology, law and tourism.

"They have a waste processing building in the middle of the city that is odorless, clean, and the building is even unique, (the design of a building) made unique so that it attracts tourists to take photos. "These may also be things we can explore to develop cooperation," he said.

In addition, according to Akio Alfiano Tamala, cooperation in the legal sector can be carried out considering that Austria is a pioneer in constitutional law in the world. In the tourism sector, Indonesia and Austria are world-class tourist destinations with their characteristics. It is recorded that approximately 40 million total tourists visit Austria every year.

"And I think maybe Indonesia can exchange ideas, can discuss with Austria how to improve tourism, tourism management, the tourism industry, including promotion, because we know, for example, here in Austria there is something called the city of Hallstatt for example, which was promoted as filming location for the film Frozen," he said. (VOI/Daniel)