REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The 60th commemoration of the Asian-African Conference (AAC) and the 10th commemoration of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership (NAASP) are important events that will help to increase Indonesia's trade.

"The cooperation among the Asian and African countries has great potential that can be improved. This potential is apparent by the economy growth shown by both continents," Indonesian Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel stated during the first dialogue session at the Asian-African Business Summit (AABS) here, Wednesday.

He noted that Asia is the largest economic region in the world, while Africa is the fastest growing economic region in the world.

Currently, the value of Asian-African trade reaches US$13.3 billion for a market base of 5.59 million people.

This amount is still relatively small as compared to the trading value between the Asian countries themselves that reaches US$8 billion.

"I fully support the establishment of the Asia Africa Business Forum to improve the relationship between the private and business sectors. This forum can be held anywhere and anytime," Gobel pointed out.

He assured that Asian and African countries could garner benefits by improving cooperation through the four pillars of trading cooperation: trading facilities, trading promotion, trading finance, and trading openness.

"Indonesia remains committed to business, capital, and the nation's future," Gobel affirmed.

According to the minister, the challenges in Asian and African cooperation are not merely about distance, but the outlook of the communities who are unwilling to take risks to invest in African countries.

Therefore, Asian and African countries should come together to establish new well-defined trading channels, which will help to increase trade.

The Indonesian Ministry of Trade is supporting the private sectors to establish cooperation with the African countries. Some African countries such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Mauritius have been successfully cooperating with Indonesia's private sectors.

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