Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam during his recent trip to Iran reported on Monday that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has responded positively to an invitation to visit Indonesia to discuss bilateral relations and trade while stressing the need for Muslim countries to bolster ties and proliferate moderate religious beliefs.
“The President [of] Iran, Dr. Rouhani kindly welcomes the invitation of the President of RI to visit Indonesia, [thereby] fostering, improving cooperation between the two countries.” Dipo said via his Twitter account @dipoalam49 on Monday.

Dipo, who was in Iran from Feb. 1-2, explained that Indonesia was keen to expand its cooperation, noting the two countries shared membership in the Development 8 Group and Muslim-majority character. While in Tehran, Dipo met Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Nahavandian and several of the country’s politicians and businessmen.

“With the promotion of moderate and authentic Islam, Muslims can face hard-liners and terrorists who claim themselves to be real Muslims,” Dipo said.

Mohammad Nahavandian, Iran’s cabinet secretary, mentioned during the meeting that Iranian Foreign Minister Jafad Zarif and a delegation of business people will visit Jakarta, explaining that the Islamic Republic prioritized strengthened ties with fellow Muslim countries, according to Iran’s state-run news agency.

Mahendra Siregar, the chairman of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, along with other Indonesian business players, met with Iran’s Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Behrouz Alishiri on Sunday to discuss further plans to increase trade and investment between the two countries.

Data from the Indonesian Embassy in Iran shows that bilateral relations between the two countries have shown positive improvements in many areas. Despite the pressure that Iran faced from international sanctions, the trade volume between Iran and Indonesia have increased noticeably.

In 2011, the two countries booked $1.86 billion in trade, signaling a 51 percent increase from the previous year. The Islamic Republic exported $880.1 million worth of oil and gas to Indonesia, a 140 percent rise from 2010.

However, non-oil and gas exports from Indonesia to Iran, composing mostly of palm oil and paper exports, also rose steadily steadily: Indonesia $781.5 million, an increase of 22.5 percent over 2010 when it was only $639.9 million.

By The Jakarta Globe

 

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