Indonesia, Russia expect $5b trade volume by 2014

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JAKARTA, Oct 28 (Xinhua): Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa said Thursday that the trade volume between Indonesia and Russia is expected to hit 5 billion US dollars by 2014 from the current 1.5 billion US dollars. The minister made the remarks after attending a high-level bilateral meeting of Indonesia and Russia in Jakarta. He expressed optimism over the achievement of the goal as great economic progress has been made. Hatta said that the trade between Indonesia and Russia rose significantly by 67 per cent from last year after the two countries signed a deal on bilateral cooperation. The minister said that Russia would invest in mining sector, including the production of nickel, bauxite and other minerals. The two countries had also reached an agreement on cooperation on trade and production of commercial planes, Hatta said. Two Indonesian airliners have ordered a total of 30 Sukhoi commercial planes from Russia with the first delivery expected in 2013, Director General for Air Transport of Indonesian Transport Ministry Herry Bhakti Gumay said. During the meeting, Hatta said they also discussed the possibility of expanding cooperation on trade and economy, transportation, education and science. "We proposed to add agriculture and infrastructure on the expansion. Later we will follow up the plans at a business forum between the businessmen of both sides," said Hatta.