Portugal to forge closer ties with Indonesia
Portugal and Indonesia are to forge closer bi-lateral trade and cooperation relations according to the Portuguese Ambassador to Indonesia.
Quoted by the Jakarta Post, Rui Carmo also said that businesses in both countries had to work harder to strengthening economic ties.
“Portugal and Indonesia have a common past forged by Portuguese contact with the region, which has left an enduring legacy we seek to translate into dynamic relations,” Rui Carmo said this month.
Speaking during a diplomatic reception to celebrate Portuguese National Day, Carmo added that the two countries were motivated to strengthen dialogue and mutual understanding aimed at fostering closer links between the civil societies of both countries.
“Giving a fresh impetus to our academic, scientific, cultural and touristic ties, as well as to our economic relationship likely to generate more business opportunities,” he said in a speech.
While other countries focus their national days on the struggle for independence or other political milestones, the Day of Portugal, Camoes and the Portuguese Communities, focuses on Portugal’s greatest poet, Luis de Camoes, who died on June 10, 1580.
Camoes composed Os Lusiadas (The Lusiads), an epic poem about Portugal’s achievements of finding a sea route to India and the rest of Asia.
Home Minister Tjahjo Kumolo was the evening’s guest of honour representing the Indonesian government. Tjahjo, however, did not deliver a congratulatory speech but instead presented a congratulatory plaque to Carmo.
Carmo, who is also accredited to ASEAN, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines, said that being a part of the European Union, Portugal had a dynamic, open and investor-friendly economy with privileged connections to Europe, the United States, Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
On the other hand, Portugal was also committed to creating new partnerships with Indonesia and Southeast Asia, he added.
Carmo also said businesspeople from both countries had to do more in each country.
“We must look ahead and make extra effort to increase business opportunities for both sides,” he told The Jakarta Post.
The ambassador, who presented his letter of credence to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in January 2017, also urged people from both countries to learn the other’s language and make visits to gain a better understanding.
The Portuguese Embassy’s deputy chief of mission, Pedro Marcelo Curto, told an English language newspaper in Indonesia that a number of Portuguese agricultural products were now being sold in the Indonesian market, such as olive oil and oranges.
“But Portugal is also a hi-tech, knowledge-based country, so we can also offer Indonesia opportunities other than food commodities,” he said.
“A Portuguese engineering company already has a presence in Indonesia through a merger with a local company.”
He also said another unspecified project was being discussed at the bilateral level.
“We also have supplied maritime radars for Indonesian naval warships,” Curto said, referring to EID SA, a company that focuses on electronics, communications and command and control.
Also in attendance at the reception were Foreign Deputy Minister AM Fachir and undersecretary to the Jakarta governor for population control and settlement, Syahrul Effendi, as well as those from the diplomatic circle, especially those from the Lusophone countries.