Full-scale cooperation with Indonesia opens up broad prospects for Belarus to enter the markets of member countries of such an influential regional organization as ASEAN is.
The central event in bilateral relations in current year is the 25th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Belarus and Indonesia that was celebrated on 18 June 2018.
The leaders of both countries and the foreign ministers exchanged their congratulatory message on the occasion.
Trade and economic relations between Belarus and Indonesia are characterized by rapid and consistent development.
Trade turnover rose from 1.8 million US dollars in 1995 to 158.3 million in 2017. In the first part of this year, Belarus and Indonesia have surpassed the figure of 115 million in trade turnover.
During last two years the Belarusian Government has managed to assure gradual development of Belarusian company.
In 2017 Belarus`s GDP grew by 2.4 percent and the state budget was executed with a surplus.
Charge d`Affairs at Embassy of Belarus Dzmitry Samusevich revealed that Belarus is eager to actively work with the leadership of Indonesia.
Samusevich said that economic diplomacy which has become one of the foreign policy priorities of the administration of President Joko Widodo is the same as the foreign policy priority of Belarusian leadership.
Largely, Belarus`s GDP has resumed growth due to the increase in exports of Belarusian goods and recovery of foreign markets.
Growth in exports and supplies is one of the main conditions for GDP growth at 3.5 percent in 2018.
Taking into consideration the mutually complementary character of our economies through joint efforts we can conceive significant joint projects in the trade, economic and investment areas, he stated.
Exchange of visits at various levels plays an important role in the development of our bilateral relations.
During the visit of President of The Republic of Belarus to Indonesia in March 2013, Belarus and Indonesia have managed to boost bilateral trade and economic relations.
Samusevich remarked that Intergovernmental Belarusian-Indonesian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation plays a vital role in the development of trade and economic relations.
"We have held 6 sessions of the Commission in Minsk and Jakarta and expecting the 7th session in Belarus in the year 2019," Samusevich said.
Contacts of the Belarusian regions with the Indonesian provinces are being considered as an important element of Belarus-Indonesia relations.
Belarusian exports to Indonesia are mainly formed by potash fertilizers, heavy-duty vehicles, special defence equipment, chemicals, tires, polyamides, wooden sleepers, medical equipment, instruments and devices used in medicine, tractors, high-tech equipment.
The main imports from Indonesia to Belarus are natural rubbes, palm and coconut oils, optic fibre, medicines, tin, paper, cocoa, dyes, printing equipment, processed fish, etc.
In general Indonesian exports to Belarus include more than 230 commodity items.
"We have numerous achievements in Belarus`s exports development," Samusevich stated.
In 2012, Belarus started the sales of heavy-duty vehicles BELAZ to Indonesia, in 2013-agricultural tractors, in 2014-caprolactam and polyamide, in 2015-high-tech X-ray and demonstration equipment.
In 2016-petroleum products, medical equipment, wooden sleepers.
In the years 2016-2017 40 units of 110-ton`s payload capacity BELAZ dump trucks were delivered to PT Bukit Asam which is one of the biggest coal mining companies in Indonesia, he said.
The huge volumes of the supplies of the Belarusian potash fertilizers to Indonesia during last 5 years are the clear evidence of the expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation in this field.
The Government of the Republic of Belarus is well aware of the great attention that the leadership of Indonesia pays to the modernization of the mining industry and the agricultural sector of the country, Samusevich said.
Belarus is ready to develop the large-scale cooperation with the Indonesian companies to meet the demand for the mining machineray, as well as for agricultural machineray.
"We are ready to supply to Indonesia BELAZ and MAZ dump trucks that could be used in different spheres," he said.
We are more than interested to further promote Belarusian quarry equipment to the Indonesian market taking into account recently realised project of the Government of Indonesia to integrate a number of state owned mining enterprise into a mining holding company, Samusevich remarked.
The Belarusian side is interested in further diversifying its exports to Indonesia, including industrial, road construction and earth-moving vehicles and machinery, metallic and petrochemical products, high-tech equipment in the field of security and medicine, pharmaceutical products, food products including milk and whey powder, and others.
Belarus currently ranks 37th on its Ease of Doing Business World Bank`s benchmark mainly due to improvement of procedures related to starting a business.
"In our country, attractive conditions for foreign investors have been started. Belarus is srategically located in Europe on the border of the European Union," he said.
Meanwhile, First Secretary at Embassy of Belarus Gleb Krykanov pointed out that establishment and functioning of the Eurasian Economic Union (the EEU) of Belarus, Kazakshtan, Rusia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan created new prospects for Indonesian commodity producers to expand their presence in the markets of Belarus and all the EEU countries.
Goods manufactured by enterprises created in Belarus can freely enter the vast market of all five states with more than 182 million people that reflects total number of consumers, Krykanov said.
Thus Belarus is highly interested in attracting Indonesian investments and is ready to be a gateway for Indonesia`s trade and economic interests in the countries of the EEU and the EU.
"We would welcome the active actions of Indonesian investors in our country," Krykanov stated.
The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are considering the possibility of conclusion of the agreement on the establishment of a free trade zone with a number of states including the Republic of Indonesia, Krykanov underlined.
The realization of joint projects within the framework of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park Great Stone which is a unique site in the region in terms of the volume and format of preferences granted to investors could also be promising.
"While reviewing the bilateral trade relations we clearly recognise that the current level of bilateral trade does not yet reflect the real economic potential of both countries," he noted.
We need to make further efforts to boost bilateral trade and economic cooperation so as to meet expectations of the Governments and business societies of the two countries such as promoting and developing direct trade, he said.
(A063/a014)
(T.A063/A/A063/A014) 05-08-2018 16:44:32
Reporter: Azis Kurmala
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
