JAKARTA -The Indonesian Embassy in Islamabad and Pakistani e-commerce company, E-commerce Pvt Ltd, inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to further explore collaboration to facilitate efforts to boost trade between Indonesia and Pakistan.

Based on the MoU signed on Wednesday (May 19), the Indonesian embassy and the Pakistani e-commerce company will facilitate increased bilateral trade by offering a platform for business communities of both nations to obtain further information that might aid in increasing commercial transactions.

The platform — called Ecombri.com — will connect exporters and importers from Indonesia and Pakistan and enable them to explore untapped trade potential in various fields, such as textiles, food processing, agricultural products, infrastructural development, chemical and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, iron and steel.

On the occasion, Indonesian Ambassador to Pakistan Adam Tugio stated that the Embassy will convene a series of events to promote trade, tourism, and investment, according to a release issued by the Indonesian Embassy in Islamabad and received here on Saturday.

Apart from the series of promotional events and activities, the embassy also conducted some cultural diplomacy activities in collaboration with some local universities.

Ambassador Tugio is optimistic that such initiatives would deepen people-to-people contacts and boost Indonesia-Pakistan bilateral trade volume that amounted to US$2.5 billion last year.

Tugio stressed on the importance of business communities looking at Indonesia and Pakistan beyond bilateral relations, as they serve as a trade gateway to each respective region that collectively has a populace of nearly 850 million.

Muhammad Uzair Nizam, the co-founder of Ecombri.com, stated that it is Pakistan’s first and largest online as well as offline business-to-business platform that can potentially simplify the procurement process for buyers and sellers through more interaction and information access.