Friday Afternoon, President Jokowi Receives President of Turkey to Discuss Economic and Terrorism Issues

MoFA spokesman, Nasir Armanatha when giving information on the visit of President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the MoFA, Jakarta, Thursday (30/7)

The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday (30/7) to Saturday (1/8), carrying out a state visit to Indonesia. Scheduled, on Friday (31/7) afternoon, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) will receive the official visit of the President of Turkey, and followed by a state banquet in the evening, at the State Palace, Jakarta.

Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), Armanatha Nasir, in a press release on Thursday (30/7) afternoon said that Erdogan’s visit is the fourth visit to Indonesia, and this is the first visit in the capacity as the President of Turkey. Previous visits carried out in his capacity as Prime Minister of Turkey.

According Armanatha, the main purpose of this visit is to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various fields, especially economic cooperation. “This visit is also performed in conjunction with when Indonesia and Turkey celebrate 65 years of his cooperative relationship,” he said.

Regarding the material that will be discussed in the meeting with President Jokowi, Arrmanatha said that the two heads of state would discuss a number of priority areas such as economic cooperation, education, and defense industries.

In addition, President Jokowi and President Erdo?an will also exchange ideas on the interests of both countries in the face of the dynamics of global issues such as counter-terrorism, the Middle East situation, and the handling of irregular movement of people.

Arrmanatha added, during the visit to Indonesia, besides meeting with President Jokowi, President Turkey, among others, is also scheduled to deliver a public lecture at the National Resilience Institute (Defense), as well as visit the Istiqlal Mosque and the National Museum.

According to the spokesman for Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey is one of the closest partners of Indonesia. “The two countries have signed a Joint Declaration” Indonesia-Turkey: Towards an Enhanced Partnership in a New World Setting” by President the Republic of Indonesia and President Turkey on April 5, 2011 in Jakarta,” he explained.

In the field of trade, Arrmanatha said, Turkey is a country of the seventh Indonesia’s trading partners in Europe with total trade in 2014 reached 2.47 billion US dollars with a surplus for Indonesia worth 415 million US dollars. As Indonesia’s main exports to Turkey are natural and synthetic rubber, palm oil and textiles.

While in the field of investment, the total value of Turkish investments in Indonesia in 2014 reached 64.1 million dollars in 29 projects, signfifikan increased from 11.7 million in 2013 for 22 projects. In the tourism sector, in 2014 as many as six thousand Turkish tourists visiting Indonesia. (Dit Infomed Kemlu/ES)