Ten Ambassadors from Friendly Countries Expound Priorities for Cooperation with Indonesia

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi gives a press statement after accompanying President Jokowi to receive Letters of Credence from the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors to the Republic of Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (08/08) morning. (Photo by: Cabinet Secretariat’s Public Relations/Rahmat)

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi stated that ten ambassadors of friendly countries to Indonesia have submitted Letters of Credence to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. This statement was made by the Minister after accompanying President Jokowi to receive Letters of Credence from Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassadors to the Republic of Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Thursday (08/08) morning.

Furthermore, the Minister also set out a number of cooperation that have been established by Indonesia and the 10 friendly countries whose ambassadors have submitted Letters of Credence to President Jokowi.

“Indonesia has good relations with these 10 countries. Some of them are Indonesia’s main trading partners or economic cooperation partners,” said the Minister.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs gave statement that Indonesia and the United States (US) are encouraging negotiations regarding the Critical Mineral Agreement (CMA) and the extension of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for Indonesia. Then with Tunisia, Indonesia is completing cooperation negotiations in the trade sector (Indonesia-Tunisia Preferential Trade Agreement).

“We are striving as much as possible to complete all those negotiations this year. And once the Preferential Trade Agreement is reached, it is projected that our exports will increase by 32.82 percent,” she explained.

Furthermore, Indonesia and Russia are also pushing for the completion of the Indonesia-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement (Indonesia-EAEU FTA) negotiations. According to Retno, this trade cooperation can boost trade between Indonesia and EAEU member countries.

“With EU (European Union) member countries such as Bulgaria, Lithuania, Slovenia, we are pushing for the completion of negotiations on the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement or often called CEPA,” she added.

She also stated that Indonesia is actively helping to strengthen cooperation between Latin American and European countries. For this reason, the Government has taken the initiative to explore a number of economic collaborations with these countries through a forum that will be held in Peru and Jakarta.

“Indonesia has several initiatives, including the Indonesia-Latin America and the Caribbean Business Forum that will be held in September this year in Peru and also the Indonesia-Europe Business Forum to be held on October 7 and 8 this year in Jakarta,” said the Minister.

Moreover, Retno also said that relations between Indonesia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) have been very well established in both bilateral and Pacific contexts. She said that PNG has a very important role in the Pacific, so Indonesia will continue to strengthen cooperation with Papua New Guinea in the Pacific.

“After this event, after this submission of the Letters of Credence, I will receive them one by one to discuss more detailed priorities for cooperation with the ten countries,” concluded the Minister. (TGH/ABD) (TM/MMB)