By Muhammad Luqman
The President of Indonesia , Joko Widodo will arrive in Islamabad on January 26 on a two-day State visit to Pakistan, according to foreign office spokesman.
The Indonesian President will be accompanied by accompanied First Lady, Madam Irjana Widodo, ministers and a large business delegation.
This will be the first visit of President Widodo to Pakistan. In 2012, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited Pakistan to attend D-8 Summit. Pakistan’s President Mamnoon Hussain participated in the Extraordinary Summit of OIC on Palestine and Al Quds Shareef in Jakarta in March 2016.
President Mamnoon Hussain will hold a State banquet for the visiting dignitary. President Widodo will also address a Joint Session of the Parliament. He will also have talks with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
During the visit of the President Widodo, Indonesia will ink an agreement with Pakistan for the export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The South East Asian country plans to export LNG to Pakistan and Bangladesh — with the trading values at about US$6 billion for each country.
Indonesia’s state-owned energy firm Pertamina will cooperate with its counterpart in Bangladesh (Petrobangla) and its counterpart in Pakistan (Pakistan LNG Limited). The contract agreement is to be designed in 10-year terms each.
Indonesia is the 8th largest trading partner of Pakistan and the largest trading partner in the ASEAN region. Pakistan’s bilateral trade with Indonesia stands around US$ 2.1 billion annually. Pakistan is one of the largest importers of Indonesian palm oil. Bilateral trade is expected to grow manifold with grant of duty free access to 20 tariff lines from Pakistan for export to Indonesia under the ambit of Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).
