To celebrate the 70^th Republic Day of India, Indonesian Minister of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration, Eko Putro Sandjojo discussed ways in which the relationship can be further improved. In his opening speech in Jakarta, Eko Sandjojo observed the lengthy history of relations between the two countries which stretched back to the 1^st century and included involvement in the first Asia-Africa conference in 1955. The minister also commented on the increase of bilateral trade, which had increased by 20% from 16 billion US Dollars to 20 billion US Dollars over the last year. In discussing the New Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the minister said both countries had set a target to achieve $50 billion worth of bilateral trade by 2025 and hoped that the bilateral relationship between the two countries will continue to grow and expand in a mutually beneficial manner.

“This special occasion is indeed the right time for us to look into the future with confidence that the relationship between our two countries will continue to grow and expand in a mutually beneficial manner. But moreover, as members of the G20, with a population that constitutes one-fifth of the global population, I am totally convinced that we could do more to the peace, stability, development, and prosperity of our region and beyond,” said Eko Putro Sandjojo.

In addition to thanking India for its assistance in various fields, Eko Putro Sanjojo also affirmed the commitment of two countries to the better Indo-Pacific region. (VOI / STEPHEN / AHM)

India and Indonesia’s ties have been tremendous in the past one year.  The ties were marked by the visit of Indonesian President Joko Widodo to India in January 2018 to attend the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of India-ASEAN Summit and to be an honorable guest at last year’s Republic Day of India. The visit was then followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indonesia in May 2018. The Indian ambassador to Indonesia Pradeep Kumar Rawat told about Indonesian-Indian diplomatic relations at an event celebrating India’s 70^th Republic Day on Friday (25/1) in Jakarta. Pradeep Kumar Rawat told India and Indonesia’s longstanding strong diplomatic relationship, and how it can be improved. In his speech he mentioned the two countries strengthening maritime relationship as the first commercial vessel from Aceh, Indonesia landed in Andaman India early January this year aiming to build modern connectivity and leverage the maritime proximity.

“India and Indonesia are two maritime neighbours. The Island of Andaman and Nicobar in India is only 90 nautical miles away from Aceh. Over the centuries the seas connecting India and Indonesia have been pathways on which commerce and culture has travelled. Our two leaders are determined to reinvigorate that historical legacy. To build modern connectivity and leverage the maritime proximity to ensure peace, prosperity and security of our shared maritime space,” Pradeep said.

In his speech, Pradeep Kumar Rawat also discussed the growing tourists and the increasing bilateral trade of the two countries. In tourism, the number of Indian tourists visiting Indonesia has reached half a million while Indonesian tourists visiting India has increased 20 percents. In trade, the countries’ trade balance has reached almost 20 billion US Dollars. Of the number, Indonesia is in the positive balance with a trade surplus of 12 billion US Dollars. (VOI/LISA/AHM)

Dino Patti Djalal has projected that Indonesia in 2040 will compete with Japan to become the 4th largest economy. But that depends on the quality of the government. Dino Patti Djalal said in his presentation in a discussion entitled "China After the 40 Years of Reformation: Impression from the Chinese Policy Group organized by Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia -FPCI in Jakarta recently.

“I’ll just share with you my conversation with the Japanese ambassador yesterday about where we will be in the world. The position of 4 and 5 will be contested between Indonesia and Japan. If we don’t do things right, if too much corruption, things are slow, political instability, bad leadership, slow reforms, we’ll be number 5. If we do things right, fast reforms, good government, right internationalism, right nationalism, we’ll beat Japan,” said Dino Patti Djalal.

Regarding Indonesia's development, Dino Patti Djalal said that China could be a "solution provider" for various fields of development for Indonesia and Asian countries, as a result of China's economic, infrastructure and technological growth, and the growing geopolitical influence of Beijing in the region. In this discussion, the former Indonesian ambassador to the US delivered the results of his trip to China at the end of last year. He conveyed how Indonesia would be diplomatically involved with the rise of China. (VOI/ Stephen/edit r/AHM)

Tourism Minister Arief Yahya is promoting three tourism missions at the Feria Internacional de Turismo (FITUR) in Madrid, Spain, held on January 23-27, 2019. The three missions were on Mobile Positioning Data (MPD), Sustainable Tourism Programs (Sustainable Tourism Development (STD)-Sustainable Tourism Observatory (STO)-Sustainable Tourism Certification (STC), and Homestay Rural Tourism, Minister Yahya noted in a statement hin Jakarta on Thursday.

The Wonderful Indonesia Pavilion has organized a sales mission, table talks, and business matching at FITUR, one of the world`s largest tourism mart.