Badung, Bali (ANTARA) - As of the second day of the 2nd Indonesia-Africa Forum (IAF), Indonesia and African countries have agreed on cooperation worth US$2.9 billion.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pahala Nugraha Mansury, conveyed this at a press conference on the sidelines of the High-Level Forum on Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships (HLF MSP) 2024 and the 2nd IAF in Badung, Bali, on Monday.
He affirmed that he will continue to monitor the cooperation and expressed the hope that the cooperation of US$3.5 billion, as targeted by Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, will be realized soon.
Overall, the cooperation covers the health sector, particularly vaccines and medicines, with the value of agreements pegged at US$94.2 million. There is also cooperation in the energy sector, which covers gas exploration and electricity infrastructure development with the value of business agreements reaching US$1.4 billion.
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"In the food sector, especially in fertilizer production, we got business agreements worth US$1.2 billion," he added.
Mansury further said that the agreements do not include pacts for which a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has not been signed.
"We will continue to pursue various potential business agreements that are hot prospects in nature, meaning, they are not yet signed but are quite mature to be pursued," he informed.
According to the deputy minister, the cooperation will be financed using several mechanisms, such as funding from investors involved in the cooperation, loans, and support from international financial institutions (IFIs).
The 2nd IAF, themed "Bandung Spirit for Africa's Agenda 2063," is being held in Bali from September 1–3, 2024, in conjunction with the HLF MSP, which has adopted the theme of "Strengthening Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships: Towards a Transformative Change."