Indonesia and Myanmar have reaffirmed the further promotion of bilateral trade and investment ties to bring two-way trade to 1 billion USD in 2016 from 465 million USD in 2012.

The reaffirmation was made at the 3rd Meeting of the Joint Commission of Indonesia-Myanmar which was held on June 12 on the sidelines of the Forum for East Asia and Latin American Cooperation in Bali , Indonesia .

At the meeting, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa hailed Myanmar ’s recent reforms, pledging that his country will continue intensifying cooperation with Myanmar in a wide range of areas such as agriculture, energy, technology, defence, fights against trans-national border crimes, trade and investment.

Indonesian firms have been expanding their business operations in Myanmar where many of economic potentials remain untapped, Marty Natalegawa added.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin spoke highly of support that Indonesian government has given to his nationals in the past time via humanitarian aid activities.

Ahead of the meeting, Indonesia had decided to provide a 2 million USD fund to help Myanmar build three schools in Rakhine state and a three-storey hospital in the areas which are prone to tsunami.

The meeting was significant following a state visit to Myanmar by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on April 23-24.-VNA