Jakarta (Indonesia Window) - In the last three years, the trade value between Indonesia and Kenya has increased an average of 17 percent, reaching a total of US$317 million in 2018.

"However, this number does not fully translate the potential of the two countries," Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said at a bilateral meeting with her Kenyan counterpart Monica Juma on the sidelines of the 12th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) in Nusa Dua on Thursday.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Retno stated that one of the effective ways to enhance trade relations between the two countries was through reducing the import duty tariffs, according to a report in the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website.

To that end, besides encouraging the possibility of forming Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) with Kenya, Foreign Minister Retno again reminded the Kenyan government of the proposal to establish a PTA between Indonesia and the East African Community (EAC), in which Kenya is a member of the regional organization that has the Common External Tariff (CET).

The PTA is expected to open market access wider and provide benefits for the welfare of the people of both countries.

The Indonesian Foreign Minister said after the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue (IAID) in August, Indonesia hoped for more tangible cooperation with Kenya.

The two foreign ministers agreed to focus on infrastructure and connectivity cooperation.

Both sides further discussed a plan to open the Kenya Embassy in Jakarta.

Reporting by Indonesia Window