"We discussed strategic relations between the US and Indonesia in an attempt to support Indonesias maritime policy," Joseph R. Donovan Jr. stated after a meeting with Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, here on Thursday.
The meeting discussed issuesrelated to fisheries, maritime and other domains.
However, the US Ambassador did not discuss any specific investment in Indonesia.
"We discussed trade and investment. I see that there is a close relationship between Indonesia and the United States in the field of aviation and power generation," he noted.
The ambassador expected that the cooperation between the two countries, especially when it comes to their strategic partnership, could be further strengthened and expanded.
On the occasion, the senior minister said the US government considers that the bilateral relations can be improved further. He added that the US assessed Indonesia as one of the largest economies in the world.
Indonesia is also considered as the largest Muslim country in the world.
"The US has interests in the South China Sea. The US has an interest in protecting us as a partner. On the other hand, China is also our good partner. But we cannot be dictated by any country, including China and the US," he affirmed.
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi), who is determined to develop Indonesia into a global maritime axis, believed that the clusters of islands and the vast waters of Indonesia can be used as one of the main axis for advancing the country.
The head of state also emphasized that the nation needs to promote its maritime identity and culture in line with its vision to become the global maritime axis.
The government, therefore, has identified the maritime sector as one of the key sectors for development.
"We have so far ignored these sectors and never gave them enough attention while the fact is that two thirds of the Indonesian territory comprises waters and it is a huge potential," he explained.
He said one way to boost the countrys economic growth was to undertake infrastructure development to ensure smooth distribution of goods by land and sea.
"We wish to start paying attention to it, develop the physical infrastructure and build shipyards since inter-connectivity among the islands is very important in addition to maritime education," he underlined.
Indonesia is one of the worlds largest maritime countries, with an estimated 5.8 million square kilometers of sea territory, while its land territory covers only 1.9 million square kilometers.
Its coastline is about 92 thousand kilometers long, making it the second-longest after Canada.
The country is the largest archipelagic nation in the world, as around 70 percent of its total territory is water, and it has 17,480 islands.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
