Indonesia-Russia Strengthen Strategic Partnership
President of the Republic of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in Vladivostok, Russia, on Thursday (9/3), discussed some potential opportunities to strengthen the strategic partnership between the countries. These included agriculture, energy and natural resources, minerals, defense, investment, and shipping. Minister of Investment and Downstream/CEO of Danantara, Rosam P. Roeslani, explained that one of the concrete deliverables from these partnerships was the preliminary stage of investment in Pupuk Indonesia (state-owned fertilizer producer) and the development of a urea fertilizer manufacturer in Vladivostok.
“The point is, we, together with the President Director of Pupuk Indonesia just signed a joint study to assess the potential of Pupuk Indonesia to invest in Vladivostok for urea fertilizer,” said Rosan to the press media in Vladivostok.
According to him, the high performance and efficiency of Pupuk Indonesia opened up the opportunity for the company to invest overseas. Thus, an agreement with the Russian partner was expected to strengthen national industry and raw materials security.
“If we look at the performance of Pupuk Indonesia, it gets better, more efficient, so it has huge potential to invest in Vladivostok and collaborate with Russian counterparts,” he continued.
The President Director of Pupuk Indonesia, Rahmad Pribadi, added that the MoU signing for the joint study was in line with Danantara’s goal: Pupuk Indonesia could contribute to strengthening national security and expand its production globally. The geographical position of Vladivostok, close to the Pacific region, was viewed strategically as it had become one of the big markets for Pupuk Indonesia.
“This is potential as Vladivostok’s location facing the Pacific region, which has become the main market for Pupuk Indonesia,” said Rahmad.
In addition to fertilizer, Rosan explained the partnership opportunity in the shipping industry. In the bilateral meeting, President Putin offered a high-tech ship with a length of more than 102 meters that can be used for processing fishery products.
“President Putin also offered a high-tech ship, with a length of more than 102 meters, which can be used for fishery product processing, for better quality,” explained Rosan.
Following up on the offer, President Prabowo would send a team to study the potential use of the high-tech ship in Indonesia.
Rosan also highlighted the ratification plan for a free trade agreement between Indonesia and Eurasia, which was expected to expand trade and investment for both parties, given the fact that the trade between Indonesia and Russia recorded a 12% increase in the previous year.
“This is a perfect momentum to expand our trade, cooperation, partnership, and investment for both countries,” Rosan concluded.
The agreements and opportunities mentioned above reflected that the meeting between President Prabowo and President Putin was not only enhancing political ties between Indonesia and Russia, but also expanding concrete deliverables for the economy, industry, and national security for both countries. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (RD/AW)
