Tehran-Jakarta trade turnover to quintuple

Octavino Alimudin made the remarks at a meeting with Chairman of Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) Masoud Khansari in Tehran. He also reported on cooperation of one Indonesian bank with 10 Iranian counterparts and opening of LCs up to 200 million dollars for bilateral trade.

"The government of Indonesia is after conducting trade transactions between the two sides through Iranian Rial and Indonesian Rupiah,” he reiterated.

Referring to the rise in imports of Iranian oil and gas following implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the official said several companies of his country were eager to make investments in Iran. Alimudin said deepening of trust between Iranian and Indonesian firms was a prerequisite to prosperity in investment and trade since companies in Iran are mainly after ties with European brands.

Ambassador of Indonesia said holdings of the Southeast Asian country were willing to make presence in Iran’s oil and gas sector adding "despite the proposal to make seven billion dollars of investment in Mansouri oilfield in south Iran, the Indonesian side has yet received no response from the Iranian Ministry of Oil.”

TCCIMA Head Khansari, the other side to the meeting, voiced the Chamber’s readiness to strengthen cooperation with the Indonesian Embassy to Tehran in line with reinvigoration of economic ties between the two countries. He said private sectors of both sides could play a major role in exploiting excellent capacities for joint venture in economic and industrial arenas.

"In spite of all difficulties, foreign investors have been inclined towards the Iranian market over the past two years one instance being the 8.4-billion-dollar deal with France’s Total,” stressed Khansari noting "TCCIMA is ready to pave the path for presence of foreign investors including Indonesian ones.