President Jokowi Meets Uzbekistan Deputy PM; Discusses Cooperation in Agriculture, Fisheries Sectors

President Jokowi, accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister and State Secretary Minister, receives Uzbekistan Deputy Prime Minister at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (21/8)(Photo by: JAY/Public Relations Division)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo on Monday (21/8) at the Merdeka Palace hosted an honorary visit from Uzbekistan Deputy Prime Minister Zoyir Mirzaev and his delegates.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, who joined the President during the meeting, said that because Uzbekistan Deputy Prime Minister is also Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, cooperation in the two fields become priorities for cooperation between Indonesia and Uzbekistan.

Retno added that President Uzbekistan has previously met with President Jokowi when both leaders attended Silk Road Summit in May this year. At that time, President Uzbekistan expressed his interest in President Jokowi’s development programs. “Therefore, President of Uzbekistan delegated his Deputy Prime Minister to visit Indonesia to learn about development programs in Indonesia, especially about fisheries and agricultural issues,” Retno said, adding that the Uzbekistan delegates also hope to learn about Indonesia’s way in developing food security and self-sufficiency programs. “Uzbekistan has expressed its interest to learn from Indonesia in increasing production in several agricultural commodities, among others, pepper. In the fisheries sector, Uzbekistan wants to learn about aquaculture development and they have asked Indonesia to immediately materialize the cooperation to make it concrete,” Retno said.

Retno added that during the meeting, President Jokowi also agreed that following this visit, Indonesian delegates will come to Uzbekistan to further the cooperation.

The Minister also said that the Uzbekistan delegates hope that so that Indonesian investors can make investment in fisheries and agricultural sectors in the country. “Once again, by fisheries here is more on aquaculture because Uzbekistan is landlocked country,” Retno said.

The Minister added that during the meeting, Uzbekistan Deputy Prime Minister also conveyed very good news for Indonesia because Uzbekistan has decided to support Indonesia’s candidacy in the UN Security Council for the period of 2019-2020.

Regarding trade relations, Retno revealed a significant increase. However, President Jokowi and Uzbekistan Deputy Prime Minister agreed on the importance on continuous efforts to boost trade cooperation between the two countries due to quite a big potential. “As we know, Uzbekistan’s population is around 32-33 million people. There are still many potentials that can be developed. And for 2017, our trade volume with Uzbekistan has increased by more than 2250 percent; so economic sector, including trade, agriculture, and fisheries will be the focus or priorities of cooperation between Indonesia and Uzbekistan,” Retno said. (FID/JAY/ES) (EP/YM/Naster)