Indonesia is deeply committed to promoting closer economic ties with China to deliver promises from the declaration for a strategic partnership forged by leaders of the two countries, newly appointed Indonesian Ambassador to China Sudrajat said.

Sudrajat made it clear that his main task is to lay a solid foundation for bilateral economic ties, which have been improving very rapidly in recent years.

"Top in my agenda is to bolster up trade, investment and tourism," the retired army general said in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday evening.

He said China is now a strategic partner to Indonesia and strong cooperation between the two great nations will give a large contribution to economic and political stability in the region.

"The combined population of the two countries is around 1.5 billion. Together we can build a safer and more prosperous Asia," he said.

Sudrajat, 56, was the director general of defense strategy with the Ministry of Defense before he was assigned to his new post. He is expected to take office at the end of this month.

After decades of ups and downs, Sino-Indonesian relations entered a "phenomenal period" after visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Indonesian counterpart Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono established the landmark strategic partnership here in April, he said.

"My job in Beijing is to help deliver our commitments. Businesses from both countries have since made investment commitments worth 4.5 billion US dollars, but still on paper.

"President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has told me to promote trade, tourism and investment," he said.

The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing will try to provide more facilities for Indonesian or Chinese tourists in order to promote the development of tourism, he added.

During Hu Jintao's visit to Indonesia, the two countries agreed to boost annual bilateral trade volume to 20 billion US dollars within three years. Indonesia-China bilateral trade volume reached 13.5 billion US dollars last year, up 31 percent over the previous year. President Susilo has expressed the hope that the bilateral trade would reach 30 billion US dollars in 2010.

In a forum with Indonesia-China Businesspeople Association earlier in the day, Sudrajat assured that "there is nothing sacred in the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing."

"Diplomats today are not aristocrats. They are traders," he joked.

Source: Xinhua