Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on July 9 called on businesspeople in ASEAN and Latin American regions to boost bilateral trade and investment as they have not fully tapped their potential for the benefit of people in the two emerging markets.

Addressing the opening of the two-day ASEAN Latin Business Forum in Jakarta, President Yudhoyono said that the two regions have enormous economic potential created by the close cooperation among their member economies.

He cited the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean region as saying that growth in the two regions may rise to 4.1 percent this year. This would be an excellent achievement as global economies see diminishing growth, he said.

The President said the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Latin America is estimated at 6.87 trillion USD while the economic growth in the ASEAN region is estimated to reach 7.2 percent with estimated GDP at 3.36 trillion USD.

He pointed out that those figures will convince business people in the two regions to further explore investment and trade ties.

At the forum, businesspeople and senior officials focused discussions on possibilities to boost trade and investment between the two regions./.