VP Says Three Keys to Strengthening Indonesia, Fujian Cooperation
- ANTARA/Desca Lidya Natalia.
China – The Indonesian Vice President (VP) Ma'ruf Amin did a working visit to Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China by meeting Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress Zhou Zuyi on Friday.
During the meeting, the Vice President emphasized three important keys as an effort to strengthen cooperation between Indonesia and Fujian Province.
First, the Vice President encouraged the strengthening of trade cooperation, especially in the halal product sector.
"Fujian Province is an entry point for Indonesian products to China, including through the Two Countries Twin Parks (TCTP) cooperation," VP Amin said.
Wakil Presiden Maruf Amin memberikan keterangan pers kepada wartawan di sela-sela kunjungan kerja di Riau, Senin, 20 Maret 2023.
- ANTARA
As example, Fuqing Yuanhong International Food Industrial Park can be an entry point and location for trade development of food and beverage products.
Then, not only food and beverage products, the Vice President also revealed the potential for cooperation in the field of halal pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
"There is a huge market potential in Indonesia with 230 million Muslim population. In fact, in the field of Muslim fashion, Indonesia is ranked third in the world," Vice President Amin conveyed.
Second, key to strengthening cooperation is investment. Vice President Amin hopes that the Fujian Provincial Government can encourage the realization of investment by Fujian business actors, especially in important Indonesian sectors such as investment in electric vehicle batteries by Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) in the green economy sector.
"I also encourage Fujianese companies to invest in Indonesia's three industrial estates of Batang, Semarang, and Bintan as part of the Twin Parks. In the fisheries sector, I invite the strengthening of investment in the fisheries and seafood processing industries,"
Third, strengthening people-to-people relations based on the long-standing kinship between Fujian and Indonesia.
"I hope the Fujian Provincial Government can encourage educational cooperation with more scholarships for Indonesian students to Fujian, and vocational education cooperation to support Chinese investment in Indonesia," VP Amin explained.
Fujian and Indonesia have historical and people-to-people ties with the majority of Chinese-Indonesians coming from Fujian Province, Vice President Amin added.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress Zhou Zuyi said that the TCTP is a very important project for Indonesia and China, and has received more attention from both heads of state.
Through this joint agreement, several Chinese companies have made large investments in Indonesia, some even reaching 21.4 billion US dollars.
"Meanwhile, industrial estates in Indonesia play a role in accelerating business development," Zhou Zuyi said.
Furthermore, Zhou Zuyi also hopes that Indonesia and China will continue to build large projects that focus on several important industrial sectors such as agriculture, machinery, electronics, and green mining.
"The local government of Fujian Province together with the Central Government has also worked together to build an excellent working mechanism to encourage infrastructure installations that will help enhance economic and trade cooperation between Indonesia and Fujian," Zhou Zuyi stated.
Zhou Zuyi also hoped that Indonesia and Fujian could develop cooperation in the marine and fisheries sector.
He encouraged in-depth integration of the two countries' fisheries sectors by utilizing the potential of their respective marine economies.
"We will actively encourage the ease of licensing and market access for the entry of Indonesian products, such as seafood, tropical fruits, and swallow nests," Zhou Zuyi said.
"Next month, Fujian will host the world maritime equipment conference,"
Zhou Zuyi also said: "I would like to invite Indonesian companies to attend the conference and explore cooperation opportunities in ships and offshore equipment."
Regarding strengthening people-to-people contact, Zhou Zuyi confirmed that Fujian strongly supports this program. In fact, several cities in Fujian have carried out intercity cooperation with cities in Indonesia.
"Fujian Province has established a good friendship with Central Java Province for twenty years. In addition, we have also established several friendship cities with Semarang, Surabaya, Malang, and Palembang," said Zhou Zuyi.
In the field of education, Zhou Zuyi also agreed that the exchange of Indonesian and Fujianese students can continue to be improved through a two-way school program abroad.
"We welcome Indonesian students to study in Fujian. We also hope that Fujianese students can also study in Indonesia. Thus we can do university cooperation," Zhou Zuyi concluded.
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