South African, Indonesian Presidents Agreed Cooperation In Air Transport

South African President Jacob Zuma visited Indonesian capital Jakarta on Wednesday and had a bilateral meeting with counterpart Joko Widodo to discuss mutual cooperations of the two nations.

It is learned the two leaders talked about cooperation in the field of air as well as railway transportation.

Indonesian Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi said the South African president appreciated their government and they will be exploring cooperation in aviation and railway in Kalimantan.

Budi added the government will conduct studies on the cooperation first and thereafter discuss the agreements or MoU with the visiting country.

He continued, “South Africa’s mining sector is sophisticated. We will meet one of the companies there to discuss the coal transport railway cooperation in Kalimantan.”

The two countries are cooperating in the air transport sector started in 1997 and both signed a treaty to open air links.

In 2013 Indonesia and South Africa signed a MoU for the setting up of air transport rights under which flight service was to open between the two countries with frequency of 7 times a week.

As of now there are no airlines between the two countries. It is believed both the presidents agreed on to open up entire flight access through each others’ international airports.

Currently there are three major international airports in South Africa and those are Cape Town International Airport, Tambo International Airport and Durban International Airport.

With the new agreement both the countries expect trade and tourism sectors may increase with access to each others’ airports.