Chairman of East Java Kadin Adik Dwi Putranto here on Thursday welcomed the cooperation offer and expressed optimism of the meeting being followed up.
"We hope that this connection would not only end here but will continue. There will be real cooperation that will be established that can spur economic performance between the two countries," he remarked.
Putranto's statement was conveyed after Pakistan's Ambassador to Indonesia, Timor Leste, and ASEAN Muhammad Hassan, accompanied by Minister of Trade and Investment of Pakistan, Fouzia Parveen, and First Secretary of the Pakistani Embassy to Indonesia, Masooma Bushara Ali, visited East Java Kadin in Surabaya on Wednesday, September 7, 2022.
Furthermore, he explained that East Java also had immense potentials for which collaboration, ranging from trade, tourism and investment, can be forged.
For the tourism sector, he noted that East Java has vast tourism potential, ranging from religious tourism, heritage tourism, to nature tourism.
"What we are pushing is Giliyang (island) Sumenep tourism that has the second-cleanest oxygen quality in the world. There are also several religious tourist attractions in East Java. There are five Waliyullah (saints) graves in Gresik, Surabaya, Tuban, and others. For heritage tourism, in East Java, there used to be the largest kingdom in Asia, namely the Majapahit kingdom," he expounded.
Meanwhile, for the agricultural sector, East Java has vast potential for both horticulture and food.
"Currently, Porang (Amorphophallus muelleri Blume) is one of East Java's mainstay commodities to replace wheat flour," he remarked.
Pakistan's Ambassador to Indonesia, Timor Leste, and ASEAN Muhammad Hassan earlier stated that Pakistan has special relations with East Java and Sulawesi. Hence, he said, Pakistan has shown major interest for East Java.
He noted that various areas of potential for which cooperation can be established, include the expansion of trade and tourism. He said that so far, the trade value between Pakistan and Indonesia has reached US$4.2 billion per year.
He noted that the potential could be developed even further on account of the vast Indonesian and Pakistani market.
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Translator: Abdul Hakim, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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