Vice President Ma'ruf Amin Wants RI-Zimbabwe Cooperation To Be Enhanced

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin receives a courtesy call from Zimbabwe's Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Protection Constantino Chiwenga in Jakarta, Tuesday (17/5/2022). ANTARA/HO-BPMI Setwapres

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said the potential for cooperation between Indonesia and Zimbabwe is very large, starting from the economic sector to defense.

"In terms of economic welfare, I think the cooperation between the two countries has great potential to be enhanced," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin when receiving an honorary visit from the Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Protection of the Republic of Zimbabwe Constantino Chiwenga in Jakarta, Tuesday, May 17.

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin said that in 2021 the trade volume between Indonesia and Zimbabwe will reach 84.86 million US dollars, an increase compared to 2020 which was 60.28 million US dollars.

However, so far, Indonesia's trade deficit is still quite wide, which is almost 90 percent of the total trade volume.

For this reason, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin hopes that the two countries can continue to encourage a two-way trade balance, including through exports of Indonesian raw material products.

"In the strategic sector, Indonesia also has production capabilities such as vehicles and weapons from PT Pindad for the modernization of the Zimbabwean military and non-military," he explained.

According to Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, at the 2019 Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue, Indonesia has also showcased the capabilities of Indonesian SOEs in the fields of electricity, railways and toll roads in Africa.

He appreciated the visit of the Vice President of Zimbabwe to Bandung to review PT LEN, PT Pindad and PT Bio Farma.

"I hope His Majesty's visit can encourage Indonesia's continued involvement in potential areas of cooperation that will contribute positively to improving the welfare of the people of the two countries," he said.

Vice President Chiwenga also welcomed efforts to increase cooperation between the two countries, which have had very strong diplomatic relations since August 1946.

Vice President Chiwenga hopes that Indonesian state-owned pharmaceutical companies can set up factories in Zimbabwe, in order to increase the production of medicines that can be distributed throughout Africa.

In addition, Vice President Chiwenga also hopes that Indonesia can help Zimbabwe in its efforts to develop infrastructure, particularly revitalizing the railways through cooperation with several related SOEs.

"In terms of infrastructure development, I will visit the related SOEs, namely PT Inka, PT Wika, and PT LEN, where this is an effort to be able to revitalize our railway system and also to encourage economic recovery," he explained.

In the defense sector, Vice President Chiwenga hopes that the cooperation between the two countries will continue to be enhanced through exchanges, visits, and also training between defense industries.

"For that one of them I will visit PT Pindad," he said.

Vice President Chiwenga also said that Zimbabwe was very open to business cooperation in other fields such as tourism, mining, agriculture and renewable energy.

Vice President Chiwenga stressed that Zimbabwe's current economic growth is very positive, reaching 7.8 percent in 2021 and is expected to continue to grow at 5.5 percent this year.