Indonesian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Dewi Gustina Tobing, paid a courtesy visit to the Foreign Secretary, Prof. Jayanath Colombage, at Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently. “At the meeting, the Indonesian Ambassador and Prof. Colombage agreed to explore potential cooperation to strengthen further bilateral relations between the two countries and on regional and international fora” Heru Prayitno,Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Colombo, said. Ambassador Dewi updated the process to start the Indonesia-Sri Lanka Preferential Trade Agreement (ISL-PTA) negotiations discussed with the Sri Lankan Minister of Trade, Bandula Gunawardane.
“The negotiations are important in intensifying cooperation between Indonesia and Sri Lanka, especially in the economic sectors, including trade and industry,” said Ambassador Dewi. Indonesia continues to share knowledge and experiences through various international activities, such as the Bali Democracy Forum, Bali Process and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and values the substantial contribution of Sri Lanka to the process. Ambassador Dewi further informed about various opportunities for cooperation with Sri Lanka, considering that Indonesia is rich in natural resources by producing processed industry, semi-finished goods, near-finished and finished goods beneficial to Sri Lanka.