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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Widodo, ladies and gentlemen,

Our talks with the President of Indonesia have been substantive and constructive.

Both in a narrow and an expanded format – with the participation of the heads of ministries and government agencies – we have addressed the entire range of issues on the bilateral agenda and set guidelines and goals for the further development of Russian-Indonesian cooperation.

I would like to note that Russia and Indonesia are linked by long-standing and close ties. At their origin was this country’s sincere friend, Indonesian President Sukarno. Today, we recalled that 60 years ago, in 1956, he in fact visited Sochi for talks with the Soviet leadership.

During our conversation, Mr Widodo and I reaffirmed our commitment to building up bilateral collaboration in all areas. We paid special attention to prospects for the development of trade. After a certain downturn in the volume of trade last year, positive dynamics have emerged this year: during the first three months of the year, the volume of bilateral trade increased by nearly 14 percent. I am sure that it is within our power not only to maintain this pace, but also to provide an additional impulse to the further development of our business ties.

The consistent interest within the business community in stepping up our joint efforts is backed up by a regular exchange of business missions with the participation of representatives of leading Russian and Indonesian companies. We have invited our friends to the St Petersburg and Vostochny (in Vladivostok) economic forums. We have agreed with the President of Indonesia to provide systematic assistance to our business circles and to create a favourable environment for deepening investment and industrial cooperation.

We have discussed the idea of creating a free trade zone between Indonesia and the Eurasian Economic Union. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which was established last year, could become a promising source of funding for joint projects and integration initiatives.

Mr Widodo oversees a wide-ranging regional infrastructural programme. Russia is ready to provide all the necessary assistance to its Indonesian partners in the project’s implementation.

Significant in this context is a joint project that was launched last year: a railway line in Kalimantan over 190 km long, to be built by our company Russian Railways in conjunction with its partners. The project will create over 2,500 jobs. The railway line will connect the resource-rich part of the island with a new port and industrial and technological cluster where manufacturing and processing enterprises will be located, also with a share of Russian capital.

Plans include the development of coal fields, the production of ferronickel, manganese dioxide, alumina and more. Our companies are ready to provide Indonesia with high-speed hydrofoil vessels, catamarans and floating piers, and to supply modern equipment for satellite vessel monitoring. We have agreed to continue our collaboration in civil aviation.

There is a good potential for expanding energy cooperation. Our companies Zarubezhneft and Rosneft have specific, serious large-scale projects, including the construction of a modern oil refinery on Java Island, with a possible investment of $13 billion.

Plans also include the construction of a 1.8 GW thermal power station, with contribution from our company InterRAO and an investment of $2.8 billion. Rosatom is working on a project to build an experimental low-power reactor.

Our Indonesian partners have proposed strengthening coordination in emergency response. Last year, Russian rescue workers were involved in a number of actions, including fighting wildfires on Kalimantan and Sumatra.

High priority is also given to the development of humanitarian ties. As of now, there are about 150 Indonesian undergraduate students in Russia. One hundred study allowances have been provided for Indonesian citizens for this academic year and the next from the Russian budget.

We will expand our tourism exchange. Last year, Indonesia introduced a 30-day visa-free regime for Russians. The possibility of signing an intergovernmental agreement on the mutual easing of visa procedures is under consideration.

The President and I have also addressed global and regional issues, including the fight against terrorism and extremism. Our countries coordinate their steps in dealing with these threats. We have agreed to expand contacts between our defence, security and law enforcement agenices.

Our countries will continue their interaction at the UN, the G20, APEC, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and, of course, within the framework of the ASEAN dialogue partnership.

In conclusion, I would like to thank our Indonesian friends for this substantive discussion and express my appreciation to the President for his dedicated participation in preparing the Russia-ASEAN summit.

Thank you.

President of Indonesia Joko Widodo (retranslated): I am greatly honoured to have this opportunity to meet with Mr Vladimir Putin in Sochi again.

Mr Putin and I, as presidents who represent the governments and people of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Indonesia, have had a substantive discussion of issues related to deepening cooperation between our countries on such strategic issues as economic, investment and military cooperation.

We are confident that we can strengthen and build up our economic cooperation dramatically. We have agreed that both sides will work to eliminate tariff and non-tariff obstacles, particularly in mutual trade. The Indonesian side has a special interest in palm oil.

We have agreed to build up investment cooperation. We are interested in Russian investment in major Indonesian projects in the marine sector and infrastructure development. We are also interested in continuing and developing railway construction projects and the construction of a seaport in Kalimantan. We also support oil processing and other investment projects.

 We have agreed with President Putin to strengthen our military technical ties. We have agreed on technology transfers and that we will discuss opportunities for joint manufacturing. We are also interested in education and personnel training.

We are interested in the further development of cooperation in addressing threats and challenges, mainly in resisting and combating terrorism. We have agreed to expand cooperation in the exchange of intelligence and to build up contacts between law enforcement agencies.

As for tourism exchange, we have agreed with Mr President on the further expansion of relevant contacts.

I am grateful to the Russian side for the atmosphere in which our talks proceeded. Our dialogue was constructive, and we discussed matters of interest openly, and in great detail.

Allow me to invite Mr Putin, with great respect, to visit Indonesia.

Thank you very much.