Indonesia, Saudi Arabia boost cooperation

Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to strengthen cooperation through the Indonesia-Saudi Arabia Cooperation Committee established in 1982, Indonesian Foreign Ministry announced in a press release on May 27.
Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to strengthen cooperationthrough the Indonesia-Saudi Arabia Cooperation Committee established in1982, Indonesian Foreign Ministry announced in a press release on May27.

The agreement was reached at the May 26 talksbetween Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and his Saudi Arabiancounterpart Adel bin Ahmed during Marsudi’s visit to Saudi Arabia.

The two sides also mentioned the possibility of establishing strategicpartnership between Indonesia and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Saudi Arabia welcomed Indonesian state-run banks to open branches inJeddah and promised to encourage its own investors to diversifyoperations in the Southeast Asia country.

Marsudi asked Saudi Arabia to help more Indonesian goods enter Gulf markets and Saudi Arabia in particular.

The two ministers also discussed citizen protection and urgenthumanitarian assistance in Southeast Asia regarding Rohingya andBangladeshi migrants.

Saudi Arabia is one of themost important trade partners of Indonesia in the Gulf region. Two-waytrade totalled 8.67 billion USD in 2014 and the number of Indonesiamigrant workers in Saudi Arabia amount to nearly 1 million.-VNA

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