ISLAMABAD: Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Asian Pacific and African Affairs of Indonesia, Abdul Kadir Jailani has said that the market of 500 million people of Pakistan and Indonesia can establish strong economic and trade relations for increasing trade volume between both sides.
Strong economic ties between the two major trading markets emerging in the global economy will play an important role in economic integration between the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries, he expressed these views during an exclusive interview with APP here.
The Minister said that Pakistan and Indonesia are the two largest Islamic countries in terms of population with a combined population of 500 million, which is a potential market for economic and trade cooperation and could open new avenues for bilateral economic cooperation.
Bilateral trade volume between the two countries is $3.9 billion, which is likely to increase further in the near future, he said.
He said that both sides are working to enhance bilateral economic, trade, diplomatic, political and cultural cooperation, and new avenues of cooperation will open up in this regard in the future.
He said that Indonesia could provide Pakistan with opportunities for trade and economic activities in the Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEANs) market with a population of 623 million, which would enhance the growth of trade between the two countries.
Indonesia can be a gateway for Pakistan in ASEAN countries in this regard, he said.
The Deputy Foreign Minister said that ASEAN is currently an emerging economic bloc in the world economically and commercially with free trade and other agreements with various countries including China and Pacific Asia through which Pakistan can reap the benefits through Indonesia.
He said that Pakistan and Indonesia already have a preliminary agreement on the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), which has boosted bilateral trade in various sectors.
Talks are underway between the two sides to promote trade between the two countries, which cannot be ruled out in the future as the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be signed between the two countries.
He said that after signing of the FTA,bilateral trade and economic activities between both of the countries will be increased.
Responding to a question, he said that the development of bilateral economic and trade relations is of utmost importance to strengthen the ties between Pakistan and Indonesia.
At the same time, he said that the exchange of business delegations between the two countries will provide an opportunity for both sides to understand each other, which will introduce new dimensions to the future of bilateral economic relations.
