Ambassador: Direct flights between Azerbaijan, Indonesia possible
By Rashid Shirinov
Ambassador of Indonesia to Azerbaijan Husnan Bey Fananie has met with a delegation of Caspian Energy International Media Group headed by its President Natalya Aliyeva on September 20. During the meeting he proposed to open direct flights between Azerbaijan and Indonesia.
“For me and for our country Azerbaijan is obviously a strategically important country, not only within its region, but also across Central and Eastern Europe,” the Ambassador of Indonesia said. In that regard, he expressed hope that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev will visit Indonesia later this year, and the next year will be followed by the visit of the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo to Azerbaijan.
“From Azerbaijan we annually import from 400,000 up to 600,000 barrels of oil. That is why, in recent years Indonesia has been the third largest trade partner of Azerbaijan, after Italy and Germany,” the Ambassador noted. In addition, Indonesia buys mazut oil from Azerbaijan. Husnan Bey Fananie emphasized that due to those certain facts, Azerbaijan will continue to be an important business partner, as well as an important partner in the field of energy security for Indonesia.
The Ambassador also underlined the importance of business contacts between the two countries. “It is very important to strengthen our relations, our trade, and to encourage the visit of Azerbaijani investors to Indonesia, and Indonesian investors to Azerbaijan to further discuss investment-related matters,” Husnan Bey Fananie said, adding that “this will make it possible to establish a mutual business cooperation between Indonesian investors and Azerbaijan companies.”
Speaking about the future of the bilateral cooperation, he added that direct transportation links should be established between Baku and Jakarta, and Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) and Indonesian Airlines should work on that issue.
“We can attract many Indonesian tourists to Azerbaijan. It is what President Ilham Aliyev mentioned while stressing the necessity of increasing flow of tourists from Indonesia to Azerbaijan,” the Ambassador noted.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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