国际英语新闻:Indonesia, Eurasia Economic Commission to expand economic cooperation

JAKARTA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ministers of Indonesia and the Eurasia Economic Commission (EEC) agreed on Thursday to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC), aimed at expanding economic cooperation between the two economies in the future.

The MoC which would be included in a Joint Ministerial Statement was expected to be signed in the second quarter this year, Indonesia Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita said on the sidelines of his meeting with EEC Integration and Macro Economy Minister Tatyana Valovaya.

"We agree to expand trade and investment cooperation which would be accommodated through the MoC," Lukita said.

Through the MoC, Indonesia expects to double its trade with EEC countries within less than five years from 2.79 billion U.S. dollars.

He pointed out that EEC countries that consisted of Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia have great market potentialities for Indonesia.

Indonesia exports CPO, coffee, rubber, foods and furniture to EEC countries while it imports aluminum, alloy and fertilizer from them.

"Indonesia and Eurasia can complement each other. They have advanced technology to offer and we have several raw materials to supply their basic needs," he added.

For her part, Tatyana said expanding cooperation with Indonesia has been highly expected by Eurasia.

"We are very serious to have this cooperation with Jakarta," she said.