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| Indonesia Pledges Closer Strategic Partnership with China |
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Indonesia hopes to lift its trade volume with China to US$30 billion in 2010, said Indonesian Ambassador Sudrajat on Wednesday. "Indonesia is looking forward to the China-ASEAN summit at the end of the month, and President Susilo will be in attendance," said Sudrajat. The summit will be held on October 30 to 31 in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the establishment of China-ASEAN dialogue. It is an event of historical significance for both ASEAN and China, and Indonesia as well as other countries have a lot of expectations, said Sudrajat. The launch of a strategic partnership between the two nations in 2005 was a milestone in Indonesia-China diplomatic history, he said, hailing the sound development of bilateral cooperation in various fields in recent years. Indonesia is the largest economy in ASEAN, and China is the fourth largest trade partner for Indonesia. "The two-way trade volume has reached US$16.7 billion, and we expect the trade to surpass 30 billion U.S.dollars in 2010," the ambassador said. He also called for an increase in mutual investment. Sudrajat said he viewed the Indonesia-China energy forum as a "model" for bilateral cooperation after the first forum was successfully held in Bali on September 25, 2002. "The second forum will be held in Shanghai on October 28." The two countries have agreed that Indonesia's Tangguh gas field will begin to provide 2.6 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually to east China's Fujian Province from 2009 for 25 years. Sudrajat said he hoped the two countries would intensify cooperation on oil, coal and the joint exploration of mineral ores. Cultural exchanges are also important elements of the relations between the two nations. Mandarin has been on offer in secondary schools in Indonesia since 2003. Indonesia has paid great attention to Chinese language and culture, especially since the resumption of diplomatic ties with China in 1990. Now Chinese has become a third language for students after local language and national language, said Sudrajat. "We attach great importance to communication with China not only because we have 12 million Chinese people in our country, but also language is an important factor in developing the Indonesia-China strategic partnership," he said. The ambassador appreciated China's assistance to Indonesia in the tsunami in 2004 and Jakarta's earthquake this year. "We would like to thank you very much for easing the burden caused by the tsunami and the earthquake...it is highly appreciated by our people," Sudrajat said. (Xinhua News Agency October 18, 2006) |
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