Russia committed to enhancing good ties with RI

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Russia is committed to enhancing its good relations with Indonesia in all fields, its envoy here said.

"Indonesia is one of Russia`s good partners not only at the moment but also in the future," Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Alexander Ivanov said at a dialog with editors-in-chief of the Indonesian print and electronic media here Wednesday.

Bilateral ties between the two nations have existed more than 50 years, he said.

He said the bilateral ties became closer following President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s visit to Russia in December 2006 and President Vladimir Putin`s reciprocal visit to Indonesia in September 2007.

The long-standing relations could not but be affected by the ups and downs in the Cold War between the now-defunct Soviet Union and the United States, he said.

A change in the bilateral ties occurred at the end of the Cold War in 1991 and when Russia entered the era of democratization through the so-called glasnost and perestroika drives and Indonesia geared up for the era of reforms in 1998, he said.

The two countries relations received another boost in 2003 when then president Megawati Soekarnoputri visited Moscow to stress the need for the two nations to lay the foundations for bilateral ties in the 21st century, he said.

Following Megawati`s visit to Russia, the two nations formed a Joint Conference Commission which had so far already met four times, he said.

The relations again got stronger when the two nations signed a number of cooperation agreements during Putin`s visit to Indonesia in September 2007, he said.

The cooperation agreements covered the environment, sports, investment promotion, auditing, fighting terrorism, culture and finance, he said.

Russian companies were investing in a number of business entities in Indonesia, including in the energy, mining, defense and trade sectors, he said.

Two-way trade reached US$680 million in 2006 with Indonesia suffering a deficit.

Indonesia`s key exports to Russia were dominated by farm products which in 2006 alone were valued at US$272.5 million.

Russia`s exports to Indonesia were valued at US$151.3 million in 2002 and fell to US$99.8 million in 2003. But the figure climbed to US$223.4 million in 2004 and further moved up to US$431.5 million in 2005 and US$416 million in 2006. (*) END

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