Foreign Ministry Toutes the Planed visit of Saudi King as Historical One

Jakarta, 23 Jumadil Awwal 1438/23 February 2017 (MINA)  – The Foreign Ministry has touted the planned visit of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz to Indonesia as a historical trip as the last time  the previous SaudinKing came here 40 years ago.

The visit, slated on March 1 to 9, will be very historic, given the latest trip of a Saudi King to Indonesia took place in the 70s, spokesman for the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Armanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta, Thursday (23/2).

According the man who is familiarly called Tata, the King will hold a bilateral meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on March 1 to 4, and the rest will  be spent  in Bali for sightseeing and taking a rest.

President Joko Widodo, better known by his nickname Jokowi, will welcome King Salman at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base in East Jakarta and they will head straightly to the Bogor Palace for a bilateral meeting with the President, he added.

He said the cooperation between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in the last two years have been very intense, visible from the frequent visits by Jokowi and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi as well as some Indonesian officials to Saudi Arabia, including the visit Saudi Shura Assembly Council to Indonesia ,

According to Tata, the planned meetings would be the culmination and a good momentum of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

King Salman also scheduled to deliver a speech at the Parliament Building and will receive a courtesy call from Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

Besides discussing bilateral cooperation, he will tour the Istiqlal Grand Mosque and see how religious diversity, as well as meet some Arab businessmen in Indonesia.

Tata explained, some points of bilateral cooperation between the two countries among others are culture, health, Islam and endowments that promote moderate Islam through the exchange of Islamic scholars, and there are still some MoUs to be finalized..

“We hope that the cooperation will continue to increase, Saudi Arabia has been also  interesting to invest in infrastructure sector in Indonesia such as the construction of roads, water supply, housing, and so forth,” he concluded.     (L/R04/RS05)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)