Indonesia Keen To Boost Ties With Ethiopia, Says Ambassador

ADDIS ABABA, April 1 (BERNAMA-NNN-ENA) -- Indonesia is keen to further bolster all-round relations with Ethiopia which it sees as a country possessing big potential and opportunity for mutual benefits, says Indonesian Ambassador to Ethiopia Ramli Saud

He said this at the Indonesian Evening Cultural Show organized at the Ethiopian Adventist College at Kuyera Town in South Ethiopia Peoples State on Tuesday. The Show, which included musical and cultural performances, cooking, fashion and short movies on tourism, was aimed at enhancing people-to-people relations.

As Ethiopia was making great strides in the economic sector, the ambassador said it was a driving force to consolidate further relations between the two countries.

He said the embassy was striving to increase trade between the two countries to US$100 million in the next few years from the US$70 million recorded in 2010. Ethiopia's exports to Indonesia increased to US$8 million in 2010 from the US$2 million in 2008, he said.

The Ambassador said Indonesia imported flowers, black cumin, leather and cotton from Ethiopia while Ethiopia imported paper, electric cables, food items, textiles and detergents, among other goods from Indonesia.

He said about ten Indonesian companies were operating in Ethiopia and more companies were keen to invest in this country in the areas of agriculture, sugarcane cultivation, pharmaceuticals and detergent industries.

Officials of an Indonesian company are here and dealing with their Ethiopian counterparts to import black cumin from Ethiopia, he said, adding that the Indonesian Embassy had participated in the 15th Addis Chamber International Trade Fair (ACITF) held here in February to promote some Indonesia products in Ethiopia.

He said his government lauded Ethiopia's leading role in the Horn of Africa as well as in the Group of 20 (G20 leading developed and emerging nations) and at summits of the African Union (AU) to advance the issues of Africa.

As the Ethiopian government was making the nation a hub for businesses in the region, Indonesia wished to bolster its relations with Ethiopia, he said. Formal diplomatic ties between the two countries date back to 1964 with the opening of the Indonesian embassy in Ethiopia.

The ambassador said as the two countries were endowed with diversified cultures and languages, such events as the cultural evening would have significance to common values among the people of the two countries to share.