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India and Indonesia have started negotiations on a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), building on what has been achieved under the India-Association of South East Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement.
This was stated in a joint statement issued after delegation level talks between the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the visiting Indonesian President, Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
“Both leaders agreed that the CECA would be a comprehensive agreement, covering economic cooperation, trade in goods, services and investment and hoped that it would further contribute to building a higher-level and mutually beneficial economic cooperation between the two countries,” the statement adds.
The two leaders also announced a number of initiatives to further tap the bilateral of trade and investment relations between the two countries including establishment of a ‘Trade and investment forum' between the Trade Ministers. The two countries also set a new target for bilateral trade — $25 billion by 2015.
A new Energy Forum, to be chaired by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia and Minister of Coal from India, supported by expert forums in the two countries was also established to accelerate the implementation of programmes of mutual interest.
The Prime Minister announced a scheme for visa-on-arrival for citizens of Indonesia.
During the official level meeting, the two countries also signed a number of memorandums of understanding including one on Cooperation in Oil and Gas.
India will look at exchanging expertise in schemes of increased oil recovery/enhanced oil recovery to raise recovery from the ageing oil and gas fields of ONGC. Indonesia has been using these schemes for improving its crude oil production, besides looking for opportunities in gas processing, petrochemicals, and gas sourcing in Indonesia.
An MoU was also signed for Cooperation in the field of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
Later in the day, the two countries signed 16 business memorandums of understanding worth $15.1 billion in diverse fields including infrastructure, mining and manufacturing.
While the GVK group signed two MoUs for setting up greenfield international airports in Bali and Java, Tata Power also signed two MoUs for ‘Training and internship for civil servants and National Electric Company'.
Reliance Infrastructure signed an MoU in the infrastructure sector to develop railway and seaport. The Minister for Chemical and Fertilisers, Mr M.K. Azhagiri, signed an MoU with the Indonesian Minister for Industry for urea manufacturing.
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