JAKARTA, Jan 13 — Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held a bilateral meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi, Vietnam yesterday, during which they agreed to increase new bilateral trade targets.
The agreement was reached after the target of US$10 billion (RM46.47 billion), set for 2023, was achieved in 2022, reported ANTARA News Agency.
"I am sure that PM Chinh has also agreed to set a trade target of above US$15 billion (RM69.7 billion) for 2028 by expanding market access and reducing trade barriers," the president noted in a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau.
He also lauded the strategic partnership between the two countries, which has resulted in various concrete collaborations, like a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on information and communication technology signed yesterday.
"This is in line with our goal to strengthen bilateral partnerships by taking advantage of the demographic bonus, digitalisation, and high-tech industry to achieve mutual prosperity," Jokowi added.
Discussions between the two leaders also covered the investment sector in which President Jokowi lauded the increased investment by Indonesian companies in Vietnam and hoped that PM Chinh would continue to support a good investment climate.
"We ask PM Chinh to encourage an investment climate that prioritises investor protection aspects by the agreement between the two countries and the Asean Comprehensive Investment Agreement," he said.
Jokowi then sought PM Chinh's support to ensure rice imports from Vietnam to Indonesia ran smoothly.
In addition, Indonesia also seeks intensified agricultural cooperation through research on quality control and smart farming, encouraging the implementation of the MoU on fisheries cooperation and eradicating illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Regarding cooperation in the renewable energy sector, President Jokowi welcomed the investment commitment worth US$1.2 billion (RM5.58 billion) from Vietnamese automotive manufacturer VinFast, for the development of an electric car and electric vehicle battery ecosystem in Indonesia.
He hopes this commitment will encourage collaboration between countries in Southeast Asia to achieve independence in the renewable energy industry.
Jokowi also thanked Vietnam for supporting Indonesia during its chairmanship at Asean last year.
"Asean still has homework to resolve the Myanmar crisis. Therefore, Indonesia will continue to support Laos' chairmanship this year," he said.
— Bernama
