ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Pakistan, Adam Mulawarman Tugio on Thursday said that Pakistani businessmen should play their due role in promoting trade and investment in emerging Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) markets like Indonesia.
In the US$ 1 trillion annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) market of Indonesia, there are ample opportunities for the Pakistani business community for trade and investment to enhance the bilateral business ties with Indonesian traders, which could benefit the business community of both countries.
Indonesia emerged as the only economy of US$ 1 trillion in ASEAN and Islamic world and both the countries have great potential for cooperation in all fields including tourism, trade, e-commerce and defense.
He said Pakistan and Indonesia have great potential for cooperation in all fields including tourism, trade, textiles, auto mobile, pharmaceutical and e-commerce.
The envoy said that Indonesia has a rich culture of tourism and hospitality and the government wants to increase this sector to 10% of the annual national income, but due to the current wave of COVID- 19 ,“We have not been able to achieve our targets in the tourism sector, which we are trying our best to meet.”
He said that the automobile sector in Indonesia is doing a lot of work in car production and Indonesia is also exporting cars and other small vehicles.In this regard, a lot of work is being done in the automobile sector with the cooperation of Japan, in which cooperation with Pakistan may increase in the near future.
He said.“In the pharmaceutical sector, Indonesia buys its raw materials from the local market, so there is no issue of cost of doing business and our pharmaceutical products are cheaper than other countries,”The Pakistani pharmaceutical sector in this regard can work in the Indonesian market in this sector and it can open new avenues of cooperation.
He said that the huge market of ASEAN countries with a population of 650 million has huge economic opportunities for Pakistan. which are being discussed in both the countries.He said that Indonesia is a diverse society, where all religions and cultures are respected. There are many Buddhist places of worship in Pakistan too.
In addition, Pakistan, an emerging country in the field of information, local youth have a lot of expertise in this field.
With online connections and a boost in Information Technology (IT), young people from both the countries benefit from each other’s experiences and skills to promote economic and cultural integration.
The Ambassador said that Pakistan and Indonesia are countries with large youth populations that can make their mark in the global e-commerce trade and create vast employment opportunities in both the countries.
He said Indonesia has set a US$50 billion e-commerce trade target by 2025 to connect with the biggest sector of global trade.Ambassador said that Pakistan and Indonesia can be linked with e-commerce trade to increase bilateral trade as well as connect both sides’ youth in connection of business and trade.
Source : APP