REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia will host the inaugural Indonesia-Africa Forum, scheduled to take place in Bali on April 10-11, to boost bilateral trade relations with countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Director for Africa of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Daniel Simanjuntak in a press briefing here on Friday said the Indonesia-Africa Forum will enable Indonesia to explore economic cooperation with the African countries.

The forum will be a platform "to convert political capital that we already have with African countries into mutually beneficial economic cooperation," Simanjuntak noted.

Indonesia is interested in the African countries as potential nontraditional markets, which remain uncharted territories for its products and industries. Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A.M. Fachir have visited Africa thrice in 2017.

Minister Marsudi, during a press briefing on the achievements of three years of Indonesia's foreign policy in October last year, revealed that Indonesian trade with a number of African countries experienced a significant increase in 2016. Trade with Madagascar increased by more than 112%; with Chad, it went up by 207%; Zimbabwe, 223%; Gabon, 562%; Congo, 566%; Zambia, 637%; and Rwanda, up to 17 times.

Indonesian-African business ties were encouraged through visits by government officials and by encouraging private enterprise exchanges, Marsudi elaborated.

Meanwhile, Simanjuntak added that Africa is seen as a relatively young continent that will play a significant role in global economic growth.

Africa experienced the second-highest economic growth after Asia. The IMF has predicted that Africa will maintain its 4.3 percent economic growth until 2020. Indonesia will explore the African market for trade and investment, Simanjuntak stressed.

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