W Sulawesi Signs Coop Agreement With Xinjiang

Urumqi, China, June 5 (Antara) - Indonesia`s Province of West Sulawesi signed a memorandum of understanding with China`s special autonomous region of Xinjiang-Uygur for cooperation in various sectors to advance the two regions. The signing was done by West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh and his Chinese counterpart, Nur Bekki, witnessed by Indonesian Ambassador to China Imron Cotan and officials of the two regions. "This will be the starting point of cooperation between West Sulawesi and Xinjiang," Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh said at an official Indonesia Trade and Tourism Forum. The governor who is also the chairman of the Regional Coordination Council for Sulawesi Development thanked the Xinjiang government for their warm welcome to the West Sulawesi delegation. "While in Urumqi we felt at home because of the friendliness of Xinjiang officials. Upon arrival at Urumqi we immediately fall in love. This is also because of the Xinjiang government`s good knowledge about the Indonesian conditions that has made us easier to develop cooperation," he said. He said Xinjiang`s economic growth was extraordinary averaging 10 percent above China`s national figure. "The economic growth of Xinjiang is driven by cotton farming which contributes to 50 percent of textile industries," he said. Imron Cotan meanwhile said Xinjiang has a lot of potentials for cooperation with Indonesia. "Urumqi is a unique city and has a lot of natural resources such as mining resources, oil, fruits, cotton and also tourism which could be cooperated with Indonesia and West Sulawesi in particular," he said. So, based on the sister-province cooperation scheme he hoped all cooperation potentials could be developed to maximally increase trade volume between the two countries, he said.