Indonesian Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan during the Indonesia Country Session at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership Summit 2023 held in New Delhi, India, Tuesday (March 14, 2023) (Photo: antaranews.com) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan and Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met in New Delhi on March 14 to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral collaboration in various sectors, including information technology, health, textiles, furniture, education, and human resources.
The Indonesian minister expressed his optimism about opportunities to enhance trade and investment relations and cooperation between the two countries.
Zulkifli noted that India is a strategic cooperation partner for Indonesia as it is the fourth-largest export destination and the 21st-largest source of foreign investment. Besides, the two sides signed the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement.
The two sides can immediately begin negotiating the bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), which has been under consideration since 2020 in order to optimise economic potentials of the two countries, he added.
The minister remarked Indonesia is open to negotiating a trade agreement that focuses on the interests of both countries.
He also expressed his hope that the Indian government will reconsider its plan to impose anti-dumping import duties (BMAD) on Indonesian viscose staple fiber (VSF) products, which are a supporting raw material for the Indian textile industry, while noting that one of Indonesia’s biggest VSF producer is interested in investing in India to develop eco-friendly lyocell fiber products of better quality.
During the meeting, the two ministers also discussed several issues that hindered efforts to increase bilateral trade, including the export of Indonesian tires and fiber products to India and the import of Indian buffalo meat, automotive, sugar, and rice to Indonesia./.
