Surabaya, East Java, Oct. 20 -- Indonesian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Judha Nugraha has called on state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL Indonesia to expand its defense market across the Middle East, leveraging surging bilateral economic ties.

Trade between the two nations grew 26 percent and UAE investments in Indonesia surged nearly 641 percent following the implementation of the Indonesia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, officials said Tuesday.

"These economic achievements provide strong momentum to deepen broader cooperation, particularly in the maritime and defense industry sectors," Nugraha said in an official statement.

Nugraha noted that PT PAL's engineering capabilities-demonstrated by its construction of ...