Indonesia Keen to Enhance Economic Ties with Pakistan Ambassador H.E Mr. Adam M. Tugio in Forum hosted by COPAIR & Pakistan in the World

Islamabad, 23 February 2023: “There is a lot of untapped potential from Pakistan to contribute to the world market”, said the Indonesian Ambassador H.E Mr. Adam M. Tugio during interactive session organized by the Center of Pakistan & International Relation (COPAIR) and Pakistan in the World magazine on “Pakistan Indonesia Relations: Present Status – Way Forward”.

The dialogue was chaired by Ms. Amna Malik, President of COPAIR, and attended by scholars, journalists and representatives from the Pakistan industries. President Institute of Strategic Studies Ambassador R Khalid Mehmood, Vice President Institute of Policy Studies Ambassador R Syed Ibrar Hussian, Vice President Council of Pakistan Newspapers Society Tahir Farooq, FPCCI leader Malik Sohail Hussain, Senior Journalist Tazeen Akhtar, Principal Turk Moarif School Afshan Malik were prominent among them.

COPAIR team screened documentaries that shed light on the history of bilateral relations. The documentaries covered the events from the independence movement of Indonesia to the most recent developments including the visit of President Joko Widodo to Pakistan and his support for flood victims in last September. Present volume of bilateral trade is more than $ 3.5 Billion.

Chairperson Amna Malik, in her welcome note, suggested continued exchanges of representatives of different sectors to increase the trade and investment volume. She said, ” Indonesia and Pakistan enjoy historical cordial and close relations that can be turned into meaningful cooperation.”

Editor Tazeen Akhtar shared that President of Indonesia relaxed ban on export of palm oil on the request of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that helped control the price hike and scarcity of cooking oil in Pakistan few months ago. Indonesia is reliable partner of Pakistan in Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) He said,” Indonesia is a country with whom our relations are not only G-toG based. We have B-to-B and P-to-P ties as well. Moreover we have H-to-H connection because our hearts beat together.”

Ambassador in his keynote address said, “Indonesia has a strong desire to enhance its economic relationship with Pakistan noting its geo-economics strategy and its geographic location as gateway to land-locked countries in Central Asia and beyond.”

The envoy showed pie charts of economic complexity indicating industries where Pakistan manufactures have strong comparative advantage and export to fill global market, and corresponding market in Indonesia where Indonesia purchase them from many sources. He made reference to Pakistani products such as medical equipment, leathers, garments, and textile that could become important trade commodities not only to Indonesia market but also globally.

The envoy emphasized the importance of building people-to-people connections between the nations, and he encouraged students in Pakistan to make use of scholarships being offered by Indonesian government and many universities in Indonesia.

H.E Tugio welcomed the initiative of COPAIR and other think tanks in Pakistan to have collaboration with Indonesia’s counterparts. “Such cooperation altogether will give contribution to strengthen cultural bridge between the two of biggest Muslim population countries in the world”, added Ambassador Tugio.

Ambassador Tugio further said that Indonesia and Pakistan can work together to promote traditional herbal medicines which have great potential among youth and millennia in the world for they believe in could boost immunity systems and simultaneously avoid side effects of synthetic medicines.

He also exposed the potential of the halal cosmetics and herbal medicine industry which is still widely open. “Pakistan can utilize the current Indonesia–Pakistan Preferential Trade Agreement (IP-PTA) for exploring 640 million of ASEAN markets and encouraged think thank and business communities to work together in identifying untapped potentials of traded goods for making more broader trade in goods agreement”, added Tugio.

Ambassador Khalid Mahmood,in his concluding remarks underscored the strong foundations of bilateral relation between Pakistan and Indonesia which continues to serve as a time-tested modalities for elevating and deepening relationships and to give broader contribution to global peace, security and development.