How Indonesian politicians and businessmen see the prospects for cooperation with Belarus

The President of Belarus has repeatedly spoken about the importance of maintaining food security and feeding its people. For Indonesia, where 280 million people live on 14 thousand islands, this task is a real challenge.

Food security is the most important issue for Indonesia, says Dr. Fadli Zon, Chairman of the Committee of the People's Representative Council of the Republic of Indonesia on Interparliamentary Cooperation.

"We need one of the most important components in the production of fertilizers - potassium. It is very important for us, and we import it from many countries, including Belarus. And we can increase our import of potassium from Belarus. We also do not have phosphorites," the politician said.

Fadli Zon:

"Indonesia and its 280 million people need food security. And in order to achieve this goal, we need to increase productivity. And productivity is very much related to fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. So agriculture is one of the areas where we can cooperate. Perhaps also mechanical engineering and others. We need Belarus' help here."

Bernardino Vega, Vice Chairman for International Relations of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry:

"Food security is a big problem for Indonesia. I think this is where countries like Belarus, which have technology and agricultural machinery, can help."

Indonesia, he said, needs to address the issue of food security, and to do so, it needs to develop a more robust agricultural system, increase the potential of the agricultural sector, and mechanize and modernize machinery.

It is important to work and cooperate with other countries to ensure that these needs are met, Bernardino Vega believes.

"Belarus has the technology and many years of experience in developing a very dynamic agricultural system. We can cooperate, we can use some of your equipment, we can study how you do your agriculture," Bernardino Vega noted.

He also suggests trying to create a model of cooperation that would be beneficial to both countries.

Winardi Hanafi Luki, Deputy Director General for American and European Affairs at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry:

"I attended BelAZ industrial plant, I drove a big tractor with huge tires. I saw Belarus as an advanced country, especially in technology. We hope that BelAZ will have a joint production in Indonesia."

According to him, Indonesia can be a hub or a gateway to the Southeast Asian market. Winardi Hanafi Luki sees great potential in this kind of cooperation.

"For example, one of BelAZ's specializations is massive tires, and we are the largest rubber exporter, so we can complement each other. We can have this kind of joint production and will be mutually beneficial for each other," he believes.

Today, Indonesia is among the top 15 largest economies in the world. The country's GDP is almost 1.5 trillion dollars. At the same time, it maintains a colossal growth of 5% annually.