ID :
86524
Wed, 10/28/2009 - 10:03
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/86524
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N SULAWESI-PHILIPPINES ECONOMIC COOPERATION NEEDS REVIVING : GOVERNOR
Manado, Oct 27 (ANTARA) - Cooperation between North Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the Philippines in the economic and other fields has been stagnant for the past 10 years but needs to be revived, North Sulawesi Governor SH Sarundajang said.
"Efforts to renew the cooperation between the Philippines and North Sulawesi must be made by developing the existing potentials," Sarundajang said on the sidelines of a seminar to mark 60 years of Indonesia-Philippine relations here Tuesday.
He said before the economic crisis hit Indonesia and Philippines, North Sulawesi and the Philippines were cooperating in many fields, including in fisheries exports.
Many fishery companies were set up in Bitung City, and there was also infrastructure development cooperation in Indonesia-Philippine border areas such as in Talaud district.
"But after the economic crisis hit the two countries in 1998, the relationships declined and eventually ceased ," said Sarundajang.
Efforts to renew the cooperative relationship with the Philippines were begun not long ago, among other things, with the establishment of a "sister-city" relationship between Manado and Davao and between Bitung and Davao.
Later, a Manado-Davao-Manila air link was opened, and this communication line was now well established.
Meanwhile, Hamzah Thayeb, the foreign affairs ministry`s director general for Asia Pacific and Africa, said there were great potentials for close cooperation with the Philippines in North Sulawesi, apart from the fact that the province was geographically directly facing the Pacific Ocean.
"Indonesia`s cooperation with the Philippines has been in existence since 1949 and it is well maintained. What matters now is how North Sulawesi can further build on this fact," he said.
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"Efforts to renew the cooperation between the Philippines and North Sulawesi must be made by developing the existing potentials," Sarundajang said on the sidelines of a seminar to mark 60 years of Indonesia-Philippine relations here Tuesday.
He said before the economic crisis hit Indonesia and Philippines, North Sulawesi and the Philippines were cooperating in many fields, including in fisheries exports.
Many fishery companies were set up in Bitung City, and there was also infrastructure development cooperation in Indonesia-Philippine border areas such as in Talaud district.
"But after the economic crisis hit the two countries in 1998, the relationships declined and eventually ceased ," said Sarundajang.
Efforts to renew the cooperative relationship with the Philippines were begun not long ago, among other things, with the establishment of a "sister-city" relationship between Manado and Davao and between Bitung and Davao.
Later, a Manado-Davao-Manila air link was opened, and this communication line was now well established.
Meanwhile, Hamzah Thayeb, the foreign affairs ministry`s director general for Asia Pacific and Africa, said there were great potentials for close cooperation with the Philippines in North Sulawesi, apart from the fact that the province was geographically directly facing the Pacific Ocean.
"Indonesia`s cooperation with the Philippines has been in existence since 1949 and it is well maintained. What matters now is how North Sulawesi can further build on this fact," he said.
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