Foreign and Military Affairs

Wen raises proposal to boost trade with Indonesia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-30 21:30

JAKARTA - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday put forward a four-point proposal for the widening of trade and economic cooperation between China and Indonesia.

While meeting with businessmen from both countries, Wen proposed to enlarge the scale of bilateral trade between China and Indonesia, step up bilateral cooperation in infrastructure construction, promote two-way investment and intensify multilateral trade and economic cooperation.

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"Firstly, the two sides need to enlarge the scale of bilateral trade," Wen said.

The two countries should further promote trade facilitation, expand trade of bulk commodities, large-scale mechanical and electrical products and products of high added value, and optimize the mix of two-way trade, he said.

"China does not pursue a trade surplus and is willing to increase imports from Indonesia so as to promote sound, balanced and sustainable development of bilateral trade."

Secondly, China and Indonesia should shore up their cooperation in infrastructure construction, said the Chinese premier.

China encourages its enterprises to take an active part in Indonesia's infrastructure construction projects, particularly in areas like roads, bridges, ports, power stations and telecommunications, he said.

In a bid to deepen bilateral cooperation in infrastructure construction, Wen said the Chinese government has decided to provide an additional $1 billion of preferential export buyer's credit to Indonesia.

Meanwhile, China will also encourage financial institutions to provide financial support for full-fledged cooperation projects between the two sides.

"Thirdly, China and Indonesia should enhance two-way investment," said Wen.

The Chinese government, as always, encourages Indonesian enterprises to seek investment opportunities in China, he said.

The Chinese government also encourages well-established Chinese enterprises to promote investment in Indonesia, especially in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, tourism, manufacturing, energy and resources, he added.

Wen said building a China-Indonesia trade and economic cooperation zone is an effective way to strengthen two-way investment and bilateral cooperation.

Noting that Indonesia is currently developing six economic corridors and several special economic zones, Wen said the Chinese government encourages its enterprises to study the feasibility of taking part in the development of these projects, expressing the hope that Indonesia could provide policy support to facilitate investment by Chinese enterprises in Indonesia.

Fourthly, the two nations need to intensify multilateral trade cooperation, Wen said.

China highly values the role of Indonesia in international and regional affairs as the country is an important member of the G20 and the Next Eleven, Wen said.

China is ready to work with Indonesia to promote the development of trade and economic relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, promote mutually beneficial cooperation among developing countries and oppose trade protectionism, the premier said.

The premier arrived in Jakarta from Malaysia on Thursday evening. During his official visit to Indonesia, he agreed with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that the two countries would seek to bring annual trade between China and Indonesia to $80 billion by 2015.

According to the Chinese premier, trade between China and Indonesia rose to a record high of $74.2 billion in 2010.