Indonesia, Fiji Concur on Intensifying Economic Co-operation, Trade in Pacific
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Inia Seruiratu met his Indonesian counterpart Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, in a bilateral meeting over the weekend.
The duo agreed that both nations would work towards deepening concrete economic cooperation in the Pacific region. On the occasion, Mr Seruiratu reiterated support for the Indonesian government’s commitment to intensifying cooperation with South Pacific nations, as a form of Indonesia’s contribution to security, peace, prosperity, and stability in the region.
Indonesia, Fiji discuss development cooperation in Pacific region
Reflecting on the successful implementation of the Pacific Exposition in Auckland, New Zealand, in July 2019, the Government of Indonesia again invited its Fijian counterpart to collaborate in the Pacific Fair 2020 to be held by Indonesia.
The Pacific Fair 2020 is expected to yield more concrete partnerships in the economic field to maintain the positive momentum developed between Indonesia and the South Pacific countries during the Pacific Exposition. Furthermore, both nations’ foreign ministers also deliberated on initial preparations for the establishment of the Indonesia-Fiji Preferential Trade Agreement (IF-PTA), a special trade agreement between the two countries.
The trade agreement is expected to be able to broaden opportunities for economic cooperation between both nations in the fields of investment, infrastructure, and connectivity.
Indonesia, Fiji discuss agriculture, marine cooperation
To this end, both parties expected that the initial stage of IF-PTA negotiations can be conducted in the first quarter of 2020.
The Indonesian government has continued to commit and strive to play a greater role in overcoming various challenges faced by countries in the Pacific region that are mostly islands.
These challenges include the impacts of climate change, marine issues, and natural disasters.
For agriculture sector, Ms Marsudi said, the Fiji government specifically expressed hope that Indonesia could assist in capacity building through trainings in food processing such as cassava and sweet potatoes.
In addition, economic relations between Indonesia and Fiji has shown a positive trend with Indonesian food products are popular in the Pacific island nation.