RI, Russia to bilateral economic forum

The Indonesian government will soon sign an agreement with the Russian government to establish a bilateral economic forum to address issues on economic and trade cooperations between the two countries, a minister says.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Tuesday that the forum would function as a place for Jakarta and Moscow to discuss and exchange perspectives on potentials and constraints in boosting trade and investments.

“Indonesian businessmen barely recognize huge business potentials of Russia and so do Russian businessmen,” she told reporters at her office in Jakarta.

She added the forum would be a bridge for the two countries' businessmen to explore opportunities of doing businesses in each country.

She said that among constraints that hindered the growth of Indonesia's exports to Russia were the absence of financial accesses from either Russian or Indonesian banks for exporters. The absence of direct transportations to send goods from Indonesia to Russia, and vice versa, also became one of the main concerns, she added.

According to the Trade Ministry's data, Indonesia's export to Russia in the first half of this year reached US$242 million, while the import was $540,3 million.

In 2009, Indonesia-Russia trade stood at $774 million with an export of $316 million. (rdf)
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