... very committed, and the Indonesian government shares the same viewpoint. We discussed with the minister to implement such cooperation...
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - East Timor's delegation led by Joao Mendes Goncalves met Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Sofyan Djalil to encourage the implementation of trilateral cooperation between East Timor, Indonesia, and Australia (East Timor-Indonesia-Australia Growth Triangle/TIA-GT).

"We are very committed, and the Indonesian government shares the same viewpoint. We discussed with the minister to implement such cooperation," Goncalves stated after a meeting at the office of the coordinating minister for economic affairs, here on Wednesday.

Goncalves, who is the chairman of East Timor delegates in the trilateral meeting, said the new partnership will involve businesses and the private sector. Therefore, the government was committed to improving the investment climate.

"We see economic cooperation, which can be a priority in areas of agriculture, industry, tourism, energy, health, education and training, and culture," he noted.

Deputy Foreign Cooperation Relations of Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Rizal Lukman remarked that the continuation of this trilateral commitment was being reviewed by Charles Darwin University, Australia, and it would hire a senior advisor at the earliest.

"The scope of this cooperation is being reviewed. We will appoint a senior advisor. So, this initiative has been supported by the country's leaders," Lukman stated.

He explained that the idea of inter-regional economic integration should be realized as it can positively impact eastern Indonesia, which has areas of potential such as animal husbandry, fisheries, maritime, and oil and gas.

"It will be very positive if eastern Indonesia can forge cooperation with its neighboring areas. So, this partnership will prove beneficial to the community," Rizal emphasized.

Trilateral cooperation was an agreement inked by the leaders of the three countries on November 9, 2012, in Bali and the commitments made by the foreign affairs ministers of the three countries in September 2013 in New York, the United States.

Earlier, East Timor had encouraged trilateral cooperation, but Indonesia and Australia proposed to wait for the results of the studies conducted by the Charles Darwin University, due to which the implementation was expected to take longer time.



Editor: Ade P Marboen
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