Ambassadors of Friendly Countries Share Views on Indonesia
President Jokowi poses for a group photo with Switzerland Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Indonesia Olivier Zehnder, in the Credential Chamber, the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday (02/20). (Photo by: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Rahmat)
During the submission of credentials from eleven Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, several ambassadors Monday (02/20) expressed their views on Indonesia’s role in the global arena and their plan to enhance bilateral relations and partnerships between Indonesia and their countries in various fields.
According to Switzerland Ambassador to Indonesia Olivier Zehnder, Indonesia plays a significant role in political and economic arena after its success in the 2022 G20 presidency last year and holds the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2023.
“We have established 70 years of diplomatic relations and 50 years of economic partnership. We are currently implementing our free trade agreement between Switzerland and Indonesia which has a promising prospect,” Olivier stated.
“My main goal as the ambassador to Indonesia is to build a strong framework and to show, to underline that Switzerland is an innovative, reliable, and pragmatic partner. Indonesia and Switzerland, together we can make it,” he added.
Echoing the same sentiment, the Syrian Arab Ambassador to Indonesia Abdulmonem Annan said that Indonesia’s leadership has made Indonesia currently stands among solid countries.
On that occasion, Abdulmonem also expressed hope that Indonesia’s role at the global level can continue to increase in the future.
“I like Indonesia as a nation and as a government. It really interests me that the political vision and high rationality that the leadership owned has brought Indonesia to its current position among the world’s most powerful countries. We hope Indonesia will keep up the good work to become the top five, insyaallah,” he asserted.
In the meantime, Sri Lanka Ambassador to Indonesia revealed that Indonesia and Sri Lanka have become good friends in history.
According to him, the two countries have established diplomatic relations since 1952 and in 1955 jointly held the Asian-African Conference in Bandung.
“We have a great tradition of working together. In the 21st century, the two countries occupy a crucial and strategic position in sea trade, including in the Indian Ocean and the West Pacific region. Thus, I hope we can develop work connectivity not only for our two countries but also for the whole world,” he remarked.
Greece Ambassador to Indonesia Stella Bezirtzoglou pointed out that Indonesia and Greece have many things in common, including peacefulness, stability, and the two countries also have thousands of islands.
“We want to strengthen our political ties. This year, we celebrate 25 years of the functioning of the Greek Embassy in Jakarta and 30 years of the Indonesian Embassy in Athens. We will strengthen our relations through trade with the hope that our port will become an entry point for Indonesia to export products to the European Union and to Europe,” she stated. (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/AIT) (RIF/HD/LW)
