Indonesian President Receives Visit of Palestinian PM

Bogor, MINA – Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo received visit of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad I.M. Shtayyeh at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java on Monday.

Jokowi emphasized Indonesia’s commitment to continue to support the Palestinian struggle for independence.

“Once again I reiterate Indonesia’s commitment to continue to support the Palestinian independence struggle,” said the President in a press statement with Palestinian Prime Minister.

The two leaders also discussed a number of issues, one of which was related to the unity and struggle of the Palestinian people.

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“I stress the importance of unity among the Palestinian people. The history of Indonesia shows that it was the unity of Indonesia that brought Indonesia to achieve independence. Therefore, the reconciliation process needs to be encouraged, and Indonesia is ready to facilitate the reconciliation of factions in Palestine. I also convey Indonesia’s support for Palestine to become a full member of the United Nations,” Jokowi said.

On the occasion, Jokowi also conveyed Indonesia’s commitment to provide humanitarian assistance and capacity building. He said that the MoU on the Government of Indonesia’s new grant agreement for Palestine was signed a few days ago.

“Indonesia is in the process of distributing aid to Palestine through UNRWA and ICRC. Assistance to Palestine is not only from the government, but also from civil society. Currently, the MUI is in the process of building an Indonesian hospital in the city of Hebron, Palestine,” said the President.

In addition to humanitarian assistance, the President continued, Indonesia also provides capacity building assistance to prepare an independent Palestinian state. In recent years, Indonesia has provided training to more than 2,000 Palestinians.

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“Today was signed a capacity building MoU to support the establishment of an independent drug and food authority in Palestine. In the future, we will continue to provide capacity building assistance, including for MSMEs, e-commerce, and disaster management,” added the President.

Furthermore, regarding economic cooperation, the President said that the value of trade cooperation between the two countries continues to show an increase. In January-July 2022, there was an increase of 21.28 percent compared to last year.

“Indonesia has provided unilateral facilities in the form of exemption from import duties for dates and olives from Palestine to Indonesia, and will be continued later for other products from Palestine. This is another form of Indonesia’s support for Palestine, and Indonesia hopes that economic cooperation can continue to be enhanced in the future,” said Jokowi.

Meanwhile, PM Shtayyeh in his statement expressed his appreciation for the signing of the cooperation agreement between the two countries as a form of real support for Palestine from Indonesia. He also hopes that Indonesia can achieve success in holding the G20 Summit in November.

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“We pray that Indonesia will be successful in holding the G20 and we hope that Indonesia can convey a message of support to Palestine at the G20 forum,” said PM Shtayyeh.