REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Italian Business Association in Indonesia (IBAI) have agreed to cooperate to boost trade and investment of both countries.

Kadin noted in a press statement here on Thursday that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation was signed on Wednesday (April 27) between Kadin Deputy Chairman for International Relations Shinta W. Kamdani and IBAI Deputy Chairman Alberto Simeone.

The signing of the MoU was witnessed by Kadin General Chairman Rosan P. Roeslani and Italian Ambassador to Indonesia Vittorio Sandalli.

Rosan remarked that the cooperation encompassed trade and investment and technology promotion support, including the exchange of information and business contracts and network expansion.

"Earlier, Kadin had already established cooperation with the IBAI. This MoU is expected to further increase cooperation in future," noted Rosan.

Data at the trade ministry showed that the value of Indonesian trade with Italy over the past decades had been fluctuating.

In 2015, the bilateral trade between both nations totaled US$3.24 billion. Indonesia's exports to Italy stood at $1.7 billion, while its imports from that country accounted for $1.37 billion.

Thus, Indonesia experienced a trade surplus of $504.69 million.

"We hope the trade with Italy will show a positive trend as the two countries have several similarities and are complementary to each other. Thus, trade is expected to continue to increase in the future," he affirmed.

Potential sectors of cooperation between the two countries included footwear design and manufacturing, textiles, creative economy, technology, services, finance, hotels, and tourism.

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