Indonesia's energy co mulls $1.2b investment

Indonesia is considering around US$ 1.2 billion investment in Bangladesh's energy sector, officials said.

The Southeast Asian country showed interest at a bilateral meeting of foreign ministers of the two countries held in Indonesia on July 17-19 last.

The Indonesian foreign minister shared that the state-owned energy company Pertamina was actively mulling over the investment, said a foreign ministry communication.

The two countries also want to conclude a bilateral Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) at the earliest for further strengthening the economic cooperation, according to a source.

The foreign ministry on September 07 last requested the commerce ministry to take necessary steps in these regards.

Bangladesh and Indonesia have already exchanged the lists of products. The proposed PTA was due in the first half of 2021, but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials said.

On August 01 last, Jakarta completed a correlation table from HS 2017 to HS 2022 and requested Dhaka to reciprocate the same to facilitate carrying forward the process smoothly, a commerce ministry official said.

He added that the process of signing the bilateral PTA is progressing.

The July meeting reviewed the entire range of bilateral issues while the two ministers reiterated their commitment to further strengthen the relationship.

During the Jakarta tour, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen had talks also with the Indonesian ministers of trade and industries, reviewing the current state of bilateral trade while both sides emphasised on expediting conclusion of the PTA in this year marking the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations.

The Bangladesh foreign minister requested the Indonesian side to favourably consider inclusion of RMG items in the products list under the proposed PTA to address the trade gap between the two countries.

The Indonesian side assured of facilitating resumption of the 4th round of the Trade Negotiation Committee Meeting at the earliest.

Both the countries also agreed to help accelerate further the exchange and interaction between the business communities of the two countries.