Indonesia, Srilanka to Intensify Economic Cooperation

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa met his Sri Lankan counterpart Gamini Lakshman Peiris here on Monday to discuss economic cooperation between the two countries.

"The meeting is a concrete realization of sound political relations between Indonesia and Sri Lanka, and what we need to do further is realizing concrete cooperation in the economic field," Marty emphasized.

Marty remarked that Indonesia and Sri Lanka have agreed to increase economic cooperation especially in the trade, investment, agriculture, fishery, and tourism sectors.

He affirmed that Indonesia and Sri Lanka have set a US$1 billion trade target for 2015, but it has not yet been achieved due to obstacles and so "we are going to increase cooperation."

Marty stated that he had discussed with Gamini Lakshman regarding the necessary measures to be adopted for boosting cooperation between the two countries.

"We agreed to double our efforts, so that the good relations so far could be further improved," he added.

In the meantime, Gamini Lakshman noted that cooperating with Indonesia will yield huge benefits for the development of economy, politics, human resources, and the health sector.

"Sri Lanka must contribute by increasing cooperation with other countries and developing mutual understanding in the political relations with other countries to boost our economy, human resources, and the health sector," he added. (WDY)