The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Ambassador Abdul Kadir Jailani launched two new Indonesian-made buses that will operate in Bangladesh.
The bus launching ceremony was held at the Intercontinental Hotel, Dhaka on the sidelines of a series of IORA activities on Wednesday.
Apart from Deputy Minister Abdul Kadir Jailani, the event was also attended by the Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh and Nepal, Ambassador Heru Hartanto Subolo, and Managing Director of Innovative Motors, Md Faruk Talukder Sohel.
The new bus uses Scania’s engine and the entire body was made in Indonesia by Laksana Bus Ltd. After the frame of the bus was manufactured completely, it was imported to Bangladesh by Innovative Motors. “This bus will be operated for inter-city transportation between Divisions,’’ Ambassador Heru Subolo said.
In his remarks, Ambassador Jailani states that the existence of Indonesian-made buses in Bangladesh is expected to be part of Bangladesh's public transport modernization program.
Moreover, it is the manifestation of Indonesia-Bangladesh bilateral cooperation in the development of the public transportation sector. In addition, the presence of Indonesian buses on Bangladesh roads shows the close business relations between the Indonesia-Bangladesh business actors.
In general, with stable economic growth and a conducive investment climate in Bangladesh, Bangladesh is now actively revitalizing the transportation sector, including modernizing public bus transportation.
For this purpose, Indonesia has the opportunity to support the success of transportation development in Bangladesh, because Indonesian automotive companies have long experience and high capacity in body bus building.
The Indonesian companies in this field have both quality and price advantages. Eighteen buses made by Laksana Ltd. have entered the Bangladesh market since 2018 through Innovative Motors as local partner.
Recently, Innovative Motors has imported 4 legacy Sr2 XHD Prime buses in September 2022.
The arrival of the 4 new buses received special attention from public transport users in Bangladesh. So far, a lot of passengers give positive comments after riding the Indonesian bus. It is hoped that Innovative Motors will import more Indonesian buses in the future. The Bus Launching Ceremony is also part of the 50th anniversary of Indonesia-Bangladesh relations.
This momentum is an opportunity for the two countries to strengthen partnerships in all fields, including economic and business cooperation. The bilateral trade performance between Indonesia and Bangladesh increases every year. In 2022, Indonesia is the 6th largest trading partner after China, India, Singapore, USA, and Japan. In the other hand, Bangladesh is the 16th largest Indonesian trading partner.