Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi (Source: smh.com.au)Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia and Australia has agreed to cement bilateral cooperation between the two countries in various fields including investment, agriculture, energy, anti-terrorism and cyber security.
The agreement was reached at a meeting between Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Australian counterpart Julie Bishop in Jakarta on March 21. The meeting was held before the sixth ministerial conference of the Bali process on smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crimes, which is scheduled for March 22-23.
At the meeting, Minister Retno stressed the readiness of Indonesia in fostering bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The two ministers attributed the strong bond between the two countries to the numerous regular meetings and visits between the two sides’ senior officials and ministers.
They welcomed the resumption of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) after the ministerial meeting in the Australian capital Canberra, which is expected to create a new epoch for the two nations’ economic relations.
Indonesia and Australia have been comprehensive partners since 2005. Two-way trade reached 14.8 billion AUD (11.2 billion USD) in 2014-2015. Indonesia is currently Australia’s 12th biggest goods trading partner.
Bilateral investment in 2014 hit 9.6 billion AUD (7.3 billion USD), of which Australia’s investment in the southeast Asian country was 8.1 billion AUD (6.2 billion USD), while Indonesia’s investment in Australia was 1.5 billion AUD (1.14 billion USD) .-VNA
