Jakarta, wapresri.go.id – During a courtesy call to Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Vice President’s Office, Jakarta on Tuesday (Aug. 22), Governor of Aichi, Japan Hideaki Ohmura hoped the Indonesian government would open its representative office in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture.

“Currently, there are only two Indonesia’s representative in Japan, in Tokyo and Osaka. If Indonesia is to open a new representative, it is expected to be opened in the Aichi region as citizens in this prefecture reach more than 5,500 people, more than the number of citizens in Tokyo,” said Ohmura.

Ohmura also wished that the direct flight of Jakarta-Nagoya can be opened soon.

At this time, he continued, 240 Japanese companies making one-third of all Japanese companies operating in Indonesia are from Aichi Prefecture. To support the mobility of the entrepreneurs from Aichi to Indonesia and vice versa, Ohmura added, this new aviation path becomes important.

“So far, if we want to go to Jakarta, we have to transit first in Osaka or Singapore,” he said.

Ohmura also assessed that this direct flight route would open wider trade and investment cooperation in addition to promoting the tourism of both countries.

The Vice President appreciated Governor Aichi’s idea. He also acknowledged the important role of Aichi Prefecture in enhancing trade and economic ties between Indonesia and Japan.

Related to the opening of RI’s representative in Aichi, the Vice President promised to convey the matter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs for further study.

The Vice President would also instruct the Minister of Transportation and Garuda Indonesia to discuss the possibility of opening the new flight route.

“Garuda is also developing new routes now,” said the Vice President.

The Vice President then invited Aichi entrepreneurs to focus not only on regions in Java Island for their investment.

“The Indonesian government is currently trying to increase investment in the regions outside Java. The potential for cooperation is still very wide,” he affirmed.

In the meeting, Ohmura was accompanied by Nagoya President of University Seiichi Matsuo, Vice Chairman of Nagoya Chamber of Commerce & Industry Koichi Yasui, Vice President of Central International Airport Co. Ltd. Masato Kakami, Managing Director of Central Japan Economic Federation Daisuke Kurihara, Executive Director for Policy Planning of Aichi Prefectural Government Jun Arakawa, Director-General for Chubu Region & Chief Director of Jetro Nagoya Shintaro Mine, Director General of Department of Regional Development and Tourism for Aichi Prefectural Government Tomohiro Nomura, and Deputy Chief of Mission of Embassy of Japan in Indonesia Kozo Hosei.

Meanwhile, the Vice President was accompanied by the Head of the Secretariat of the Vice President Mohamad Oemar, Acting Deputy for Government Policy Support Guntur Iman Nefianto, Special Staff to the Vice President for Economy and Finance Wijayanto Samirin, and Vice President’s Expert Staff Sofjan Wanandi. (AK / FM, KIP Setwapres)