The Indonesian government welcomed Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe to discuss possible bilateral cooperation in the transportation sector.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said that Indonesia has a chance to tap into Sri Lankan domestic market. “We were asked by Prime Minister Ranil to pay special attention to Indonesian products, specifically trains,” Jokowi said on Wednesday, August 3, 2016.

President Jokowi said that Indonesia will participate in an auction in Sri Lanka and expected to win. In return, Jokowi invited Sri Lanka to attend a Trade Expo on October.

Indonesia had previously exported trains to India back in March 2016. PT Industri Kereta Api (INKA) exported 15 train carts ordered by Bangladesh Railway. The delivery was part of a 150 train cart request valued at US$73 million (more than Rp 950 billion) made by the Indian railway company.

Jokowi asserted that Indonesia is currently attempting to expand new export markets as the government continues to aim for countries with a total population of 60 to 100 million people. Jokowi hoped that Indonesia would not rely heavily on exports to common export destination such as Europe, United States, and China.

Photo - Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, right, shakes hands with Sri Lanka's Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during their meeting at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Aug. 3, 2016. AP/Dita Alangkara

- TEMPO.CO, Jakarta