Indonesia is eager to boost trade with Canada, but the South Asian country isn't interested in two of the Harper government's top priorities - pursuing a free-trade deal or buying Alberta oilsands crude.
Nonetheless, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa was unenthusiastic Thursday about boosting trade as he arrived in Ottawa for talks with his counterpart John Baird.
Natalegawa was quick to point out that trade between the two countries soared 60 per cent in the last year, saying there is plenty of room to boost volume and diversify, without a formal trade pact between the two countries.
"But even absent a freetrade agreement, the reality is the trade figures and the trade trends for our two countries have been very positive over the past year," he told The Canadian Press in an interview.
"So let's focus on what we can do at the moment. That idea of a free-trade agreement is something that's still way ahead of us."
Two-way trade between Indonesia and Canada, though climbing fast, is still at a low volume of about $3 billion a year. Natalegawa declined to give a target on boosting that figure.
The Conservative government has been vigorous about pursuing free-trade deals with China, India, the European Union and a host of smaller countries. Indonesia, the world's fourth largest country with its largest Muslim population, was identified by Canada as a priority country in an internal foreign policy review that Prime Minister Stephen Harper ordered Baird to undertake last year.
