TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia and Vietnam have agreed to strengthen bilateral ties in order to enhance trade activities at the ASEAN level.
“Our strategy is to strengthen Vietnam’s position as Indonesia’s main regional chain of supply in ASEAN,” said Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita on Monday, August 14.
Enggartiasto said that the strategy is more practical for Indonesia instead of directly competing with Vietnam. He issued his statement during the 7th Indonesia–Vietnam Joint Commission on Economic, Science, and Technical Cooperation (JC-ESTC) held on Saturday, August 12.
During the event, Indonesia mentioned about its access into the Vietnamese market on the products of medicines, coal, wagyu beef, and eggs. Meanwhile, Vietnam highlighted Indonesia’s trade safety policy, horticulture imports, and local contents.
Enggartiasto explained that the Vietnamese market is the third largest market in ASEAN regions following Indonesia and the Philippines with 93.3 million people and has 70 percent growth of the middle class.
“This is why Indonesia needs to give more attention towards Vietnam, not only because they have a large economic potential but also because Vietnam has opened an FTA bilateral with neighboring countries,” said the minister.
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