Indonesia-Equador Agree to Increase Trade Cooperation

Jakarta, (Antara) - Indonesia and Equador have agreed to increase efforts for trade cooperation.

The agreement came following a meeting between Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi and her counterpart of Equador, Guillaume Long, on the sidelines of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit on the island of Margarita, Venezuale, on September 16, according a press statement from the Indonesian foreign ministry received here on Sunday.

In the meeting the two ministers viewed that tariff had been one of the issues hindering the trade cooperation between the two countries.

Equador is Indonesia's seventh trade biggest partner in Latin America.

The value of trade between the two countries in 2015 reached US$70.1 million.

Besides discussing trade, the two ministers also discuss citizen protection abroad.

Like Indonesia Equador also has a lot of citizens working abroad and need protection.

"Indonesia and Equador agreed to cooperate in various multilateral forums for the discussion of protection of migrant workers,"  minister Retno said.

The two officials also exchanged views on cooperation in the oil sector and natural disaster mitigation.

On the occasion minister Retno has asked for Equador's support to Indonesia's bid to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2019-2020.(*)