President Jokowi Meets Members of Bahrain Parliament

President Jokowi meets with members of Bahrain Parliament at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Friday (31/3). (Photo by: Public Relations Division/Jay)

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo on Friday (31/3) at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, received members of the Bahrain Parliament led by its leader Ahmed bin Ibrahim Rashed Almulla.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A.M. Fachir said that President Jokowi invited King of Bahrain Al Khalifah to visit Indonesia. “They also talked about the plan of the DPR (House of Representatives) Speaker to visit Bahrain,” Fachir said.

Fachir went on to say that President Jokowi also welcome the meeting between parliaments of the two countries, as well as the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them aimed at promoting cooperation in various sectors.

“The President also said that Indonesian parliament not only deals with legislation affairs but plays a role in promoting cooperation between Indonesia and its friendly countries,” Fachir said.

President Jokowi also said economic and trade cooperation between the two countries last year increased by 30%, reaching more than US$101 billion, Fachir said.

The Deputy Minister also said that according to President Jokowi, although Bahrain only has a population of around 1.5 million, there are many cooperation potentials between the two countries; thus, the President hopes that trade potentials, especially Indonesian products such as furniture, garment, textile, and many others, can be further intensified.

“President Jokowi also hopes that Bahrain’s investment in Indonesia can be increased because the current investment value is still small, which is around US$800,000 in 3 projects,” Fachir said.

At the regional level, Fachir said that President Jokowi hopes for Bahrain’s support for cooperation between Indonesia and oil-producing countries allied under the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “We hope there will be efforts that economic partnership between Indonesia and the GCC countries can be immediately realized,” Fachir said.

In the meantime, the Bahrain parliament, Fachir said, expressed its appreciation to Indonesia’s support for Bahrain in a number of international forums so far.

Fachir further said the meeting also emphasized the importance of cooperation to fight against terrorism because just like in Bahrain, in Indonesia and various countries in the world, there are threats of terrorism.

“Therefore, efforts to promote cooperation both at the regional level and multilateral level needs to be promoted,” Fachir said.

Also joining the President at the meeting was Minister of State Secretary Pratikno. (FID/JAY/ES) (EP/YM/Naster)