Indonesian President Joko Widodo (R) and French President Francois Hollande (Photo: netralnews.com)Jakarta (VNA) - The governments of Indonesia and France have pledgedto strengthen cooperation in the fields of counter-terrorism, defence andenergy.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo on March 29 held a meeting with his French counterpartFrancois Hollande to discuss efforts on how to elevate bilateral ties to a newheight.
The two sides gave a strong commitment to combating terrorism and exchangedviews on the importance of scraping xenophobia.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, President Widodo said that twocountries are cooperating in a number of international issues, including the Palestineissue, the UN’s peace keeping force and the fight against extremism andterrorism.
The leaders also agreed to enhance defence cooperation, including improving Frenchskills for Indonesian military personnel.
President Widodo said that Indonesia and France will boost partnership in twonew fields - maritime and creative economy.
The two countries inked five agreements in defence, sustainable development,tourism, science and worker exchange. France also pledged a 2.6 billion USDinvestment in Indonesia’s energy, infrastructure and retail sectors.
Meanwhile, President Hollande said that the two countries have enjoyed sounddefence cooperation, highlighting that traffic infrastructure will be a driveto boost tourism in the Southeast Asian country.
Hollande is the first French President to visit Indonesia in the past threedecades after President Francois Miterrand’s visit in 1986.-VNA
VNA
