Indonesia, Qingdao to Initiate Maritime Cooperation

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia has embarked on a maritime and sister city cooperation with Qingdao city, Shandong Province, China.

Indonesian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China Soegeng Rahardjo discussed the issue in a meeting with the Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party of Qingdao branch, Li Qun, Tuesday, April 22, 2014.

According to the press release received by Tempo on Friday, Li expressed his appreciation for the visit of the Indonesian Ambassador and hoped that the visit could boost cooperation between Qingdao and other cities and provinces in Indonesia, including in the trade, investment, and people-to-people contracts sectors.

For the record, the total trade volume between Indonesia and Qingdao reaches US$2.1 billion and at least 32 Indonesian companies have made investment in the city.

In the meantime, the Indonesian Ambassador said that given the role of Qingdao as the center of maritime researches in China, he believed that the enhancement of cooperation with Qingdao would bring positive impacts for Indonesia's economic development.

"Currently, we've already had a cooperation framework in the form of sister city cooperation between Shandong Province and East Java province. What's needed are efforts to fill the cooperation framework with concrete programs," Soegeng said in a press statement released by the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing.

Soegeng also said that there were good potentials in developing sister city cooperation between Qingdao and maritime cities in Indonesia such as Manado. Therefore, he said that he would call on stakeholders in Indonesia to promote cooperation with Qingdao and make the most of the existing cooperation opportunities.

Qingdao is the biggest city in Shandong province, China. Located in the eastern coast of the country, the city is famous all over the country for the production of beer known as Qingdao beer.

NATALIA SANTI