Indonesia, Russia boost bilateral cooperation

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo have held talks on cooperation (Source:VNA)

Jakarta (VNA) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo have held talks on cooperation in defence, cultural exchange and archival cooperation.

According to the Indonesia’s Antara news agency, the two leaders discussed cooperation in military exercises, education and joint production. They witnessed the signing of five Memorandums of Understanding.

The Indonesian side called on Russia to ease tariff and non-tariff barriers for Indonesian palm oil exports to Russia.

Cooperation plans include the production of coal, ferronickel, manganese dioxide and alumina.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the talks on May 18 in Sochi, Putin revealed that Russia wants to expand cooperation in the energy sector with Indonesia.

Russian companies, namely Zarubezhneft and Rosneft, have large-scale projects in Indonesia, including the construction of a modern oil refinery on Java Island, with a possible investment of 13 billion USD, Putin said.

Plans also include the construction of a 1.8-gigawatt thermal power station, with contributions from Russian company InterRAO and investment of 2.8 billion USD, he added.

Putin said that Russia is ready to provide all necessary assistance to its Indonesian partners for infrastructure projects, Putin said, adding that Russian companies are ready to provide Indonesia with high-speed hydrofoil vessels, catamarans, and floating piers and to supply modern equipment for the satellite monitoring of vessels.

The two countries also agreed to continue collaboration in civil aviation, Putin said.

President Widodo stated that the two countries agreed to boost Russian investment in Indonesia, particularly in the fields of maritime, infrastructure, energy and electricity.

He emphasised the importance of technology transfer and weapon purchase as part of defence cooperation.-VNA