The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Thursday said he believed there to be enormous potential for bilateral cooperation across a broad range of areas, including trade and investment, based on both country's civilizational linkages, which led not only to a fusion of art and culture, but also to a confluence of ideas, values and social ethos.
In an interview to an Indonesian newspaper, Kompas, Dr. Singh said he looked forward to diversify the trade basket between both countries and resolve impediments to trade and investment and encourage higher flow of investments in both directions.
"The trend in bilateral trade is positive, though trade saw a minor dip in 2012-13 on account of the global financial situation, and stood at USD 20 billion. We are confident of achieving the bilateral trade target of US$ 25 billion by 2015. We believe the potential is much higher," Dr. Singh said.
"A bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will open up the potential on both sides and provide strong impetus to growth," he added.
Dr. Singh assured that Indian companies view Indonesia as an attractive investment destination, and that significant investments in Indonesia have been made in sectors of infrastructure, power, textiles, steel, automotive, mining, banking and FMCG manufacturing. Dr. Singh also invited Indonesian companies to invest in India.
"All prominent Indian companies, including Tata, Birla, Reliance, SBI, and many others have a presence in Indonesia. In comparison, Indonesia's investment in India is relatively limited. I invite Indonesian companies to look at the immense investment opportunities that India offers in the infrastructure, logistics, hospitality, and services sectors. It would be of mutual benefit if Indonesia invites Indian investments in education, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and port development.
Dr. Singh also said that the early signing of ASEAN-India Services and Investment Agreements, negotiations on Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and emergence of an ASEAN Economic Community by end-2015 would also have a positive effect on our trade and investment relations with Indonesia.
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"India's imports from Indonesia have largely been from extractive industries, which should be diversified. India could be a significant source for a broad range of goods, including agro-products, automobile components, engineering goods, IT, pharmaceuticals, meat and meat products and biotechnology products," Dr. Singh said.
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Dr. Singh also appealed to students, academics, think tanks and scientists to visit India.
"Currently, we offer around 100 scholarships to Indonesian students and officials under various schemes and Indonesia also offers such scholarships. We have also set up Chairs of Indian Studies in Indonesian Universities. Every year, we invite many students, academics, scientists, think tanks and media persons from Indonesia to visit India," he said.
"We have set up two VTCs in Indonesia, in Jakarta and Banda Aceh, which are doing well, and are ready to set up a similar center in Papua. The recently established Development Partnership Agency in our Ministry of External Affairs is providing a new focus to our international development partnership efforts," he added.
Dr. Manmohan Singh left for Indonesia from Brunei earlier, where he will be accompanied by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma.
In his departure statement, Dr. Singh said: "My visits to Brunei Darussalam and Indonesia will further intensify our engagement to our East, which has been at the forefront of our foreign policy, and contribute to peace, prosperity and stability in the Asia Pacific.