‘A new horizon for Pakistan-Indonesia relations’

This is apropos two back-to-back letters to the Editor from this writer carried by the newspaper on Wednesday and yesterday. For Indonesia, the opportunities in Pakistan are equally promising. With a large consumer market and strategic access to Central Asia, western China, the Middle East and Africa, Pakistan offers Indonesian investors a broad regional gateway.

Indonesia’s strength in palm oil, nickel, copper, coal, rubber and downstream manufacturing aligns with Pakistan’s industrial and energy needs. Indonesia’s mineral wealth—especially nickel, essential for electric-vehicle batteries—could support Pakistan’s emerging automotive and renewable-energy ambitions. Long-term palm oil supply agreements and joint ventures in refining and food processing could solidify a US$2–3 billion supply chain anchored in stability and value addition.

Energy cooperation is another high-value domain. Indonesia’s substantial coal exports already support Pakistan’s power sector, but opportunities now extend to renewable technologies, sustainable agriculture, and climate adaptation. Both nations face frequent natural disasters, rising temperatures and food-security pressures.

Joint initiatives in disaster management, coastal protection, agricultural resilience and social-protection systems would translate shared vulnerabilities into shared solutions. Indonesia’s successful nutrition and social-welfare frameworks can be harmonised with Pakistan’s experience in large-scale cash-transfer programmes to create replicable models across the Muslim world.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025