Daily News, Sri Lanka
Indonesia will not allow its territory to be used for carrying out or facilitating any terrorist activities against Sri Lanka, pledged Indonesian Foreign Minister, Dr. Hassan Wirajuda during the bilateral talks held last Sunday (29 March 2009) in Colombo with his Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama.
He reiterated Indonesia’s strong support for Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and expressed the hope that the Government of Sri Lanka would be able to soon overcome the menace of terrorism and restore peace and stability to all parts of the country.
Speaking further, he said that Indonesia, as a matter of policy supports international cooperation to combat terrorism, as terrorism poses a direct threat to international peace and security.
He emphasized the need to transform the geographical proximity of the two countries and the strong bilateral political ties to meaningful and tangible economic cooperation, which would promote people to people contacts. He pointed out that although bilateral trade has expanded at an average rate of 25% per annum over the last 5 years to reach US$ 400 million in 2007, it was still much below the potential that could be achieved.
Minister Bogollagama underscored the need to amend the existing bilateral Air Services Agreement in order to enable greater frequency of flights and 5th freedom right for the national carriers of the two countries, which would greatly enhance trade, tourism and investment flows between Sri Lanka and Indonesia.
The Minister invited a trade and investment delegation drawn from the private sector of Indonesia to visit Sri Lanka and explore the opportunities available for them to establish factories and facilities to export their products to the vast sub-continental market, by exploiting the duty free access facility under Sri Lanka’s Free Trade Agreements with India and Pakistan.
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