"I believe countries in the South Pacific such as Nauru, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga are very open to cooperation with Indonesia in various sectors," the President said here on Friday.
According to Widodo, areas in which cooperation could be developed were people-to-people relations, culture, education, and investment and trade. The key to improving cooperation, he said, was enhancing connectivity and transportation with other countries in the southern Pacific.
Indonesia had a strategic location, lying as it did between Asia and Australia as well as India and the Pacific. Widodo said Indonesia?s foreign policy aimed at developing the economic and politic sectors.
President said the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) could be used to accelerate concrete cooperation in the Pacific area. "Indonesia should enter non-traditional markets, including countries in the Pacific. We can offer manufacturing, as well as fisheries and services," Widodo said.
(Uu.B019/INE
(UU.B019/B/KR-BSR/A014)
Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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