Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto held discussions with New Zealand's Ambassador to Indonesia Kevin Burnett ONZM centering on economic recovery efforts in the trade, farming, industry, and energy sectors.

"Indonesia and New Zealand have the target of increasing the value of two-way trade to NZD4 billion until 2024," Burnett noted in a statement on Thursday.

"Hence, it is important for the two countries to bolster their cooperation to meet this target," he remarked.

Currently, the trade value between Indonesia and New Zealand had only reached NZD1.5 billion. New Zealand exports a variety of dairy products, such as milk, cheese, and yoghurt.

Hartarto also highlighted the contribution of Fonterra, a dairy co-operative enterprise from New Zealand, through the trade of a variety of products and its support to Indonesians in improving their capacity in the milk industry.

In addition to interest in knowing Indonesia's priority in the G20 Presidency this year, Burnett expressed gratitude for Indonesia's support during New Zealand's APEC Presidency.

Hartarto also offered help for Indonesia's G20 Presidency and the opportunities for cross-sectoral collaboration between the countries.

Hartarto highlighted that the three G20 priority agendas that Indonesia prioritizes are global health, energy transition, and digital transformation.

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These could be worked on through a variety of concrete collaboration projects between Indonesia and New Zealand in the areas of health, farming, energy, environment, and trade, he remarked.

The meeting also discussed the issue of recovering the post-pandemic global economic landscape to become more resilient, inclusive, and collaborative by utilizing digitalization.

"Digitalization is a game changer during the pandemic and will grow significantly as compared to the pre-pandemic period," the minister remarked.

Digital transformation supports Indonesia's efforts to rebuild the post pandemic economic landscape and architecture, and its growth is high, especially in the areas of online education and telemedicine.

Digitalization also supports the registration and execution of the Pre-employment Card Program training.

Moreover, Hartarto invited New Zealand to become a partner in the energy transition program. Geothermal energy is one of the areas where cooperation can be developed.

The energy sector, specifically transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy, becomes the G20 priority agenda that draws the attention of countries worldwide, including of New Zealand.

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Translator: Khuntum Riswan, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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