VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

VOINews, Jakarta - Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and her Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman launched the Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

"Indonesia and India continue to discuss, especially under the two countries' Ministry of Finance, about the effort to develop a strong dialogue on a policy level, starting from the highest level to the very technical level," Indrawati said in a statement issued on Monday.

Indonesia and India have many similarities and a long history, she observed.

For instance, trade relations between Indonesia and India, especially Gujarat, date back before the 13th century and started with agricultural products such as spices, clothes, and jewelry.

This economic history has been one of the foundations for strengthening their bilateral cooperation.

"We share with each other many things to meet the demand of each countries' domestic demand," the minister said.

Other efforts also encompass maintaining high economic growth performance, creating jobs, reducing poverty, and improving cooperation—not just within the bilateral framework, but also at the multilateral level.

Indonesia and India currently have a similar economic structure supported by the growth of the manufacturing sector and significant development of technologies and innovations.

The two countries are optimistic that they can grow strong and demonstrate good resilience in confronting challenges, both at the regional and global levels.

During their bilateral discussion, the two ministers discussed efforts to strengthen trade and investment cooperation and efforts to handle development issues together, including climate change and public health.

"We will continue to strengthen this bilateral relation, especially for the two institutions (Indonesian and Indian ministries of finance), during a policy dialogue that will discuss trade, investment problems, including human resources," Indrawati said. (Antaranews)