PTA to boost BD-Indonesia trade: Ambassador

Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Heru H Subolo has said the completion of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Bangladesh and Indonesia will give significant impetus to the growth of bilateral trade, reports UNB.
Currently, both the countries are working to finalise the PTA to cover more products and facilitate more trade interactions between two countries.
"With stable economic growth and a favourable investment climate in Bangladesh, the prospects of trade and investment are open wider," said Ambassador Subolo while delivering the keynote speech at the latest episode of Cosmos Dialogue premiered on Wednesday night.
Cosmos Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group, hosted the dialogue titled "Bangladesh-Indonesia Relations: Prognosis for the Future" as part of its ongoing Ambassador's Lecture Series.
The opening remarks were delivered by Cosmos Foundation Executive Director Nahar Khan. The session was chaired by Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a renowned scholar-diplomat and former advisor on foreign affairs of the caretaker government.
Professor at the Department of International Relations, Dhaka University, Dr Lailufar Yasmin, Dhaka Courier Executive Editor Shayan S Khan and Honorary Advisor Emeritus, Cosmos Foundation, Ambassador (Retd) Tariq A Karim comprised the panel of discussants. Cosmos Foundation Chairman Enayetullah Khan also spoke.
The volume of bilateral trade jumped sharply up to 72 per cent from US$1.76 billion in 2020 to US$3.03 billion in 2021.
"It is interesting to learn that our trade is not only focused on traditional commodities but covers broad and strategic products too," said Subolo.
With a combined Indonesia-Bangladesh market of more than 400 million consumers, there are still ample opportunities in the economic sector to explore and to expand the bilateral trade which currently is exceeding US$3 billion, he said.
Investment in the energy sector in Bangladesh is also promising, said the Indonesian Ambassador.
Currently, he said, progress is being pursued by Indonesian state-owned company, PT Pertamina and its Bangladesh counterparts, to build an integrated power generating plant in Bangladesh.
It is also with great interest that PT Pertamina is looking closely in other areas such as prospective oil explorations as well as power distribution in this country, said the envoy.
He suggested "broader action plans" to strengthen his country's genuine partnership with Bangladesh to prosper together.
As the two countries celebrate the 50 years of their bilateral relations, the ambassador said, it provides the opportunity to strengthen the economic partnership, deepen bilateral trade and digital economic environment, invest in energy power generation and distribution and enhance people to people connect to power their prosperous future together.
Dr Iftekhar said he has long admired Indonesia as a "free and active" foreign policy and its leadership role in the ASEAN as Asia Pacific's largest economy.
"As we evolve our bilateral relations, we also bear in mind that there is an evolution of another set of relationships in the region, which are security focus, and Indonesia has shown the way how we can steer clear of involvement in those big power disputes and develop our bilateral relations in a way that it benefits our nations and peoples," he added.
Sharing his personal observation, Enayetullah Khan said Bangladesh and Indonesia's ties have been totally underexploited and he hoped that the two countries will definitely look at the opportunities.
Khan laid emphasis on taking advantage of Bangladesh's geographical location and noted that, "We have overlooked and underestimated our strength and it is time for us to assert and to act."
Nahar Khan said the two nations which belong to the Indian Ocean Rim Association are becoming important trade partners.
As the largest economy of Southeast Asia and the second largest economy in South Asia respectively, Indonesia and Bangladesh now enjoy natural opportunities to expand their economic engagement with each other, she said.