In an interview with ANTARA in Jakarta on Monday, December 8, he said Indonesia could serve as Turkey’s gateway to Southeast Asia, a region with 700 million consumers.
He added that Turkey could in turn become a bridge for Indonesia to access the European market, which has high purchasing power.
Strengthening bilateral trade, he said, could help reduce the influence of major global powers amid rising geopolitical competition and declining multilateralism.
According to Kucukcan, Indonesia and Turkey can counter such pressures by working closely within platforms such as MIKTA, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the United Nations.
"I think all these platforms would bring Turkey and Indonesia as emerging leaders in the future," he said.
He noted that bilateral trade currently stands at US$3 billion. Given the scale of both economies, Indonesia and Turkey aim to raise that figure to US$10 billion annually.
"We are working towards it," Kucukcan said, describing the two countries as "the right countries to work together and collaborate."
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Translator: Katriana
Editor: Anton Santoso
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