Hangzhou, China (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Italy will increase the value of trade as agreed at a bilateral meeting between President Joko Widodo and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The meeting was held on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, on Monday (Sept. 5).

President Widodo said Italy is an important trading partner for Indonesia and a center for Indonesian exports to Europe.

"Indonesia is committed to boosting trade with Italy in the future," the president emphasized.

In addition to trade, the two countries are likely to cooperate in several sectors, such as education and culture, maritime, renewable energy, digital technology, and agribusiness.

Prime Minister Renzi invited President Widodo to visit Italy in 2017 to follow up on some points of cooperation discussed at this occasion.

"I would like to promote cooperation in the fields of education and culture with Indonesia in order to improve people-to-people contacts between the two countries," the prime minister stated.

With regard to inter-faith dialog between the two countries, Prime Minister Renzi remarked that Italy will continue the dialog process since Indonesia has an important role as the largest Muslim nation in the world.

President Widodo agreed to improve the dialog process.

"Some 87 percent of Indonesians are tolerant Muslims. I support Indonesia and Italy to organize an interfaith dialog forum to promote the values of moderation and overcome xenophobia," the president added.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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