Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Visiting Swiss Vice President Doris Leuthart and Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli, during a meeting here, Wednesday, discussed maritime cooperation with regard to tourism, energy, and mass transportation.

"This morning, we discussed cooperation in several fields. First area was tourism, second on energy, and third on the means of public transportation," Rizal Ramli revealed.

Indonesia has requested Switzerland to help train professionals in the hospitality and tourism sector, he remarked.

The government plans to build a tourism school on a 20 thousand-hectare plot of land located near a tourism economic zone in Mandalika, West Nusa Tenggara.

We need experts and teachers from Switzerland to provide training in the hospitality and tourism sector," he noted.

Switzerland is keen to build solar power plants in Indonesia.

Ramli said Switzerland had experience in technologies to build hydro and solar power plants.

He also invited the European nation to help develop means of public transportation such as subways and light trains in 20 cities in Indonesia, except Jakarta.

Leuthart recalled that Indonesia and Switzerland had established diplomatic ties since 1952.

The bilateral ties have lately intensified, including in the economic field.

"The trade between Indonesia and Switzerland was quite stable last year at some US$ two billion. It is quite a good trade volume," the vice president remarked.

She hoped that the bilateral economic cooperation would be intensified to strengthen relations between the two nations.

"There are 150 Swiss companies here. We hope they would partner with Indonesian companies," she added.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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