Indonesia intends
to purchase lithium and cobalt from Kazakhstan as the country is aiming to
boost the production of electric vehicles and batteries. Indonesian Ambassador
to Kazakhstan Mochamad Fadjroel Rachman highlighted the country’s interest in
purchasing domestic rare earth metals. In an exclusive interview with the Silk
Way TV channel, the diplomat noted that Kazakhstan’s primary exports to Indonesia
currently consist of ferroalloys. A special bilateral agreement will allow for
the supply of other products from the mining industry.
“This month, the
delegation from Indonesia, from the Ministry of Energy and also from our
enterprises from Indonesia - oil and gas and also the mineral - come to
Kazakhstan. We have met with the Minister of Energy of Kazakhstan and also we
had a meeting with the parties who are in charge of minerals substances. So,
this year and hopefully next year we will sign a MoU, a
Government-to-Government MoU on oil and gas and also the minerals,” Mochamad
Fadjroel Rachman said.
Another sector with
great prospects for cooperation between Kazakhstan and Indonesia is tourism. The
parties plan to sign a memorandum on strengthening relations in this field next
year. It is expected that the world's largest archipelago will attract up to
15,000 Kazakh tourists annually, while Kazakhstan will welcome up to 5,000
Indonesian visitors. The parties are considering launching direct flights
between the main cities of the two countries and introducing a visa-free
regime.
“To scale up our
trade turnover to $1 billion, so we have to change, not only change, we have to
add our products from Indonesia. Kazakhstan also needs textile, and also
furniture, and also fisheries from Indonesia. But Indonesia also needs the
premium meat from here and dairy products from here also. So, if there is a
direct flight, it is not only tourism which will scale up, but also trade and
investments will scale up,” he added.
It bears noting
that last year, the trade turnover between the two countries totaled $700
million.
