Lack of understanding impedes expansion of Iran-Indonesia ties:envoy

Qeshm, Hormozgan Province, Sept 19, IRNA – Indonesian Ambassador to Iran Dian Wirengjurit here on Tuesday called lack of understanding as major obstacle to expansion of the two countries bilateral ties. The official made the remarks in his lecture to some Iranian economic activists in Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf. 'Lack of understanding is the reason behind many unreal and wrong suppositions between the officials and peoples of the two countries,' he noted. 'Before being appointed as Indonesian ambassador to Tehran seven months ago, I supposed that people's life in Iran was really difficult because of sanctions and Islamic Republic was internationally isolated.' Wirengjurit underscored that there are lots of common grounds for cooperation between Iran and Indonesia in various fields of culture, religion and economy. 'Iran and Indonesia have good tourism potentials.' He added that Iran and Indonesia are committed to expand their free trade zones. 'Iran has made good progress in building the country's infrastructure for supplying water, electricity, natural gas, phone, road and rail; Jakarta is willing to take technological help from Iran to supply electricity required for the Northern Sumatra.' Indonesia and Iran have good relations and Jakarta abstained from voting at the United Nations to bring the issue of Iran’s nuclear program before the Security Council in 2006, however it did vote in favor of sanctions in 2007 under the West pressure. Indonesia again abstained from voting in 2008, this time on UNSCR 1803, saying that it was not convinced that sanctions would change Iranian nuclear policy for the better and that Iran was, in fact, cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Indonesia has officially endorsed Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear technology under the safeguards of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the IAEA. In a press conference in April 2007, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called Iran’s nuclear program peaceful and the United Nations resolutions against the country illegal. Bilateral trade between Indonesia and Iran largely centers on activity in the energy sector, although it has begun expanding to other industries. In a meeting of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation in March 2008, the chairman of Indonesia’s Cooperatives Council, Adi Sasono, and the Secretary General of Iran’s Chamber of Cooperatives, Mohammadreza Ramezani, called for an expansion of bilateral trade ties in all fields between their respective countries. Indonesia and Iran have agreed to cooperate on several joint development projects. Among the most important of them is a dlrs 6 billion joint refinery in Indonesia scheduled for completion in 2012. Apart from energy cooperation, Iran and Indonesia began discussing agricultural trade and other natural resource trade in March 2009. Iran and Indonesia, two of the most populous Islamic countries, enjoy high-level political relations. During his visit to Tehran in January 2009, Indonesian President Susilo Banbang Yudhoyono agreed to expand all levels of official cooperation with Iran by signing five memorandums of understanding with Iranian President Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad said Yudhoyono’s visit to Iran marked the deepening of political ties between the two countries. Both Iran and Indonesia are members of the Developing 8 (D-8) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).