The governments of Somalia and Indonesia on Wednesday signed an agreement to their economic and trade partnership.
Mukhtar Mahad Daud, Somalia’s deputy foreign Minister has inked the pact with Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi during meeting in the capital city of Indonesia, Jakarta.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Daud said the deal would deepen the bilateral trades between the two countries.
“This is a historic and a real milestone in the relations between Somalia and Indonesia. This will boost the trade between them,” said Daud.
Da’ud expressed hope that Indonesian investors would invest in the fisheries and agriculture sectors in Somalia.
For her part, Marsudi said that the trade between the two countries, which has grown on an average of 30 percent per year can still be increased.
“I have just held bilateral talks with the Somali deputy foreign minister. We spoke about trade ties, hence, at the meeting, we agreed to encourage the private sectors of the two countries to forge more contacts,” she said.
According to Marsudi, in 2017, bilateral trade jumped by 80 percent as compared to the previous year.
The Indonesian Foreign minister said the two sides explored possibilities for cooperation in infrastructure development.
“We are pursuing the development of infrastructure, including roads and ports, as one of the priorities. Right now, we are in the process of developing ports, but we are focusing our expertise on designing the ports. Hence, this is a joint effort of several countries to cooperate with Somalia in developing its ports,” she explained.
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