With more and more Indian tourists travelling to Indonesia, there is a strong case for providing direct air connectivity between the two countries, said Saut Siringoringo, Consul General of Indonesia, Mumbai, here on Monday.
Garuda Indonesia, the national airline of Indonesia, will launch a direct flight service between Jakarta and Mumbai in December. “Yet, it is sad that there is still not much direct air connectivity between the two countries despite the rising tourist arrivals from India. From time to time I have been reminding them. I am confident that more Indonesian airlines will fly here, given the huge market,” he said indicating that direct flight services from Indonesia could be introduced to a few more Indian destinations, including Chennai, by March next year.
Providing statistics on tourist arrivals from India, Mr.Siringoringo said 2,10,000 Indian tourists had travelled to Indonesia in 2014 and the figure rose to 2,70,000 in 2015. “I am optimistic that the figure will cross 3,50,000 this year ,” he said, speaking to The Hindu . Mr.Siringoringo was on a visit to the city to explore opportunities for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.
Indonesia was also keen on promoting destinations other than Bali.
“We are improving services and infrastructure in at least 10 other destinations,” he added.
Mr.Siringoringo observed that there was good scope for increasing bilateral trade between India and Indonesia, which currently stood at around US $ 16 billion. “Though it is good, there is still an imbalance. It is also low when compared to Indonesia’s bilateral trade with China. I don’t see any reason why bilateral trade between Indonesia and India should lag behind,” he said.
However, he said there is strong intent on both sides and expressed optimism that bilateral trade would increase. There is also much potential for diversification of trade, as currently Indonesia largely exported coal and palm oil to India.
There was scope for diversification in areas such as pharmaceuticals and food industry, he said and added that the Consulate in Mumbai was getting many enquiries from Indian businessmen on doing business in Indonesia.
Apart from interactions with members of the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Chamber of Commerce and the travel industry, Mr.Siringoringo also had an interaction with a section of students pursuing higher education in Tiruchi. “About 20 students are studying here and I got a very positive feedback from them on the city and the education here,” he said. About 100 Indonesian students were pursuing higher studies in South India, he added.
Pointing out that India and Indonesia enjoyed good relations historically, he said a cultural performance on Ramayana by a folk dance troupe from Indonesia is slated to be held in India next year. “It is very important to improve people to people contact,” he said.
