President Jokowi received an honorary visit from Wang Yi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Thursday (18/4/24), according to a release on the website of The President of The Republic of Indonesia.
During the meeting, President Jokowi and Minister Wang Yi discussed several important issues related to economic bilateral cooperation and the situation in the Middle East.
In her statement after the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said that President Jokowi delivered three important messages, one of which was related to economic cooperation between the two countries.
President Jokowi underlined an increase in trade volume that is more balanced between Indonesia and the PRC and hopes for the opening of market access for Indonesian products to the PRC, including the completion of protocols for importing Indonesian agricultural and fishery products.
“Other things are still in the field of economic cooperation. The President is encouraging development cooperation in IKN, including for modes of transportation. “Mr President also encouraged the implementation of strategic projects in the North Kalimantan industrial area, especially for investment in the petrochemical sector,” said Foreign Minister Retno.
Apart from that, President Jokowi and Minister Wang Yi also discussed the issue of food security. According to the President, it is important to improve agricultural cooperation between the two countries, including studying China’s agricultural modeling.
“The last thing that the President said was related to the situation in the Middle East. “The President emphasized that no party wants to see an escalation and said that Indonesia continues to carry out diplomatic communications with various parties including Iran and the United States,” said Foreign Minister Retno.
On this occasion, Indonesia also emphasized three things, namely the importance of restraint, the importance of de-escalation, and asked countries to use their influence to avoid escalation. Foreign Minister Retno also said that the positions of Indonesia and China were the same on this issue.
“The President also expressed his confidence that the PRC will also use its influence so that escalation can be prevented,” said Foreign Minister Retno.
Meanwhile, the PRC also emphasized support for Palestinian independence through a two-state solution and agreed that stability in the Middle East would occur through a two-state solution. Apart from that, Indonesia and PRC also have the same position in supporting Palestine’s full membership in the UN.
“Earlier, an exchange of views was also held regarding the support of the majority of UN member states for full membership of Palestine in the UN. “In this case, once again Indonesia’s position and the PRC’s position are the same in that we fully support Palestine’s membership in the UN,” said Foreign Minister Retno.
Source: Website of The President of The Republic of Indonesia, BPMI Setpres
Stock image by BPMI Setpres/ Vico
