S. Korea, Indonesia sign 11 MOUs to boost bilateral cooperation

South Korea and Indonesia Monday signed 11 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to bolster bilateral cooperation after South Korean President Park Geun-hye met her Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae.

According to the memorandums, Seoul and Jakarta will strengthen cooperation in infrastructure development, trade, investment, maritime affairs, energy and other areas.

South Korea has been seeking to step up its existence in the Southeast market. As a massive market with a population of 250 million, Indonesia has attracted more than 2,000 South Korean companies investing in the country. Among the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries, Indonesia is South Korea's third largest trade partner after Vietnam and Singapore.

Through a set of agreements over bilateral cooperation in constructing infrastructure such as power plants, gas pipelines and railways, South Korea seeks to join a series of Indonesia's development projects worth 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, Cheong Wa Dae said.

Indonesia launched a five-year development scheme to refurbish the nation's aging infrastructure including overland and maritime traffic networks in 2015.

Under an MOU, the Korea Gas Corporation will form a consortium to participate in a 600-million-dollar project to construct a gas pipeline between Palembang and Bali in Indonesia.

Furthermore, Indonesia allowed the Korea Rail Network Authority to participate in the first stage of a 2.1-billion-dollar project to establish a 20-kilometer railway in Jakarta.

The two sides also signed an MOU to bolster cooperation on various maritime affairs including maritime law, environment, security, logistics and fisheries.

Trade volume between the two countries stood at 17 billion dollars in 2015. Endit