President Jokowi: Iran Will Invest in Indonesian Power Plant Projects

The atmosphere of a bilateral meeting between President Jokowi and Iranian Foreign Minister M. Javad Zarif at the JHCC (7/3)

In the bilateral meeting with Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said that Indonesia and Iran have a similar commitment to give support to the independence of the Palestine.

President Jokowi made the statement when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid a courtesy call to President Jokowi on the sidelines of the 5^th Extraordinary Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit on Palestine and Al-Quds Al Sharif at the Jakarta Hall Convention Center (JHCC), on Monday (7/3).

“We also stressed the importance to exercise restraint to maintain stability and peace in the Middle East to the Iranian Foreign Minister and it will be conveyed to President Hassan Rouhani. Minister Javad Zarif has also agreed on the points in the message and he will extend it to President Rouhani,” President Jokowi said.

President Jokowi said that the Extraordinary OIC Summit is held as a form of full support and solidarity from Indonesia and the OIC to Palestine.

The President also hopes there will be a breakthrough to resolve the issues of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif and Indonesia is ready to cooperate to deliver the message of Islam as Rahmatan Lil ‘Alamin (blessing for the whole world).

Indonesia also welcomed the improvement on Indonesia-Iran’s partnership and bilateral relations and invited Iran to promote peace both in the region and in the world by restoring its relations with Saudi Arabia and cooperate with mutual support in international fora.

Furthermore, the President also said that Indonesia and Iran want to embark on cooperation on investments.

“Indonesia will make investment in Iran on the sectors relating to oil, gas, and fertilizer, while Iran will invest in Indonesia on power plants, both are powered by micro hydro or wind because they have the technology,” the President explained.

Furthermore, the President said that Indonesia also wants to embark on the bilateral cooperation agreement on energy, oil, and gas sectors as well as to invite Iran to invest in the Indonesian development projects and encourage trade cooperation between the two countries, primarily on the market expansion of Indonesian commodity products.

“We also want to re-launch the cooperation on the banking sector between the two countries immediately because this is an obstacle,” President Jokowi added.

President Jokowi further said that the obstacle has been mentioned to the Head of Indonesian Financial Services Authority and he has agreed to begin the cooperation on the banking immediately; thus, it will lead to the development and affirmation of Indonesia-Iran’s economic relations soon.  (FID/SLN)RAS/EP/YM/Naster)