A high-level working session, aiming to review Mauritius-Indonesia bilateral cooperation ties, explore new avenues of collaboration and enhance synergies to put substance to the bilateral agenda between the two sides, was held yesterday in Port Louis.
The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Etienne Sinatambou. The Indonesian side was represented by a five-member delegation, led by Mr Lasro Simbolon, Director for African Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia.
Discussions during the working session focused on the following: bilateral air services agreement; investment opportunities; cooperation in the fields of ocean economy, tourism, development of SMEs; Mauritius candidature for an Observer Status in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and visa facilitation.
In a statement Minister Sinatambou recalled that his Ministry’s role is to act as a facilitator by enabling Ministries and the private sector to explore collaborative prospects with Indonesia, which will consequently pave the way for Mauritius to generate wealth and prosper.
Speaking about collaborative prospects that can be explored, the Minister evoked the Ocean economy as one such sector whereby Indonesia’s vast experience can be tapped. Indonesia experience in that sector spans over 10 years of holistic exploitation and that is why Mauritius can learn a lot from expertise in this field as the ocean economy encompasses port activities, aquaculture, and pearl culture that can be explored, he said.
The Minister further outlined that Indonesia has a joint programme with the FAO related to developing a new concept of maritime economy. This programme, starting this year and which ends in 2018, is expected to create more than 75 000 jobs and generate over 110 million US dollars yearly. This is where we can learn from their experience and the FAO’s concept and try to replicate the same in Mauritius, said Mr Sinatambou, adding that there are a lot of prospects and potential that can be exploited by both countries.
According to the Minister, Mauritius can also learn from the manufacturing sector since Indonesia, with half of its people aged below 30 years, can and has to produce a lot to nourish its vast population.
For his part the Director for African Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, Mr Lasro Simbolon, said that Indonesia wishes to develop substantive relations with Africa through Mauritius, which is strategically located in the Indian Ocean. Our avenues are multi-faceted and multi-pronged, he said while calling for the need to have more interactions at ministerial levels and the business community. There are plenty of opportunities for Mauritius in Indonesia and it is crucial to have more exchanges through visits, he added.
Indonesia, a country with a 250 million population, is the biggest economy in South East Asia. It has the biggest Archipelago in the world with more than 17500 islands.
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