Indonesia hopes to lift its trade volume with China to US$30
billion in 2010, said Indonesian Ambassador Sudrajat on
Wednesday.
"Indonesia is looking forward to the China-ASEAN summit at the
end of the month, and President Susilo will be in attendance," said
Sudrajat.
The summit will be held on October 30 to 31 in Nanning, capital
of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to commemorate
the 15th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN
dialogue.
It is an event of historical significance for both ASEAN and
China, and Indonesia as well as other countries have a lot of
expectations, said Sudrajat.
The launch of a strategic partnership between the two nations in
2005 was a milestone in Indonesia-China diplomatic history, he
said, hailing the sound development of bilateral cooperation in
various fields in recent years.
Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN, and China is the
fourth largest trade partner for Indonesia. "The two-way trade
volume has reached US$16.7 billion, and we expect the trade to
surpass 30 billion U.S.dollars in 2010," the ambassador said. He
also called for an increase in mutual investment.
Sudrajat said he viewed the Indonesia-China energy forum as a
"model" for bilateral cooperation after the first forum was
successfully held in Bali on September 25, 2002. "The second forum
will be held in Shanghai on October 28."
The two countries have agreed that Indonesia's Tangguh gas field
will begin to provide 2.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas
(LNG) annually to east China's Fujian Province from 2009 for 25
years.
Sudrajat said he hoped the two countries would intensify
cooperation on oil, coal and the joint exploration of mineral
ores.
Cultural exchanges are also important elements of the relations
between the two nations. Mandarin has been on offer in secondary
schools in Indonesia since 2003.
Indonesia has paid great attention to Chinese language and
culture, especially since the resumption of diplomatic ties with
China in 1990. Now Chinese has become a third language for students
after local language and national language, said Sudrajat.
"We attach great importance to communication with China not only
because we have 12 million Chinese people in our country, but also
language is an important factor in developing the Indonesia-China
strategic partnership," he said.
The ambassador appreciated China's assistance to Indonesia in
the tsunami in 2004 and Jakarta's earthquake this year.
"We would like to thank you very much for easing the burden
caused by the tsunami and the earthquake...it is highly appreciated
by our people," Sudrajat said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2006)