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Indonesia and Uzbekistan are to boost trade and investment
cooperation so as to explore the great, yet untapped, economic
opportunities that increased ties have to offer, officials from the two
countries say.
In a seminar on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry's director general for
Asia Pacific and Africa, Primo Alui Joelianto, said that though the
relationship between the two nations was solid, there were many
untapped potentials that could be explored to the mutual benefit of
both countries.
"I firmly believe that by promoting trade and investment cooperation,
including private-sector cooperation, we can achieve a better outcome
than we have to date," he said.
The two countries are especially looking forward to collaborating in
such sectors as the energy, agriculture, banking, infrastructure,
electronics and textile industries, he added.
According to Trade Ministry data, trade between Indonesia and
Uzbekistan last year amounted to a modest US$9.6 million. This
represented a 15.8 percent decrease from the $11.5 million recorded in
2005.
Indonesia's main exports to Uzbekistan are rubber, tobacco, palm oil,
tea, margarine, cocoa powder, paper and footwear, while it imports such
products as cotton, knives and cutting blades, needles and electrical
equipment from Uzbekistan.
During the seminar, the Uzbekistan representatives invited Indonesian
investors to put their money in the chemical and pharmaceutical,
construction materials, computer accessories, electronic products, food
processing and silk industries.
The Uzbekistan government is currently in the middle of its 2006-2008
privatization program, with shares in 1,495 state enterprises up for
grabs.
Alishar Shaykhov, chairman of the Uzbekistan Chamber of Commerce, said
that the privatization drive was part of his government's efforts to
improve the efficiency and profitability of enterprises.
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