Jokowi-Merkel Holds Virtual Bilateral Meetings

Bogor, MINA – Indonesian President Joko Widodo held a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a virtual manner, from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java on Tuesday afternoon.

The meeting was held a day after the opening of the Hannover Messe Exhibition 2021, in which Indonesia was lined up as a partner country.

As quoted from the website of the Cabinet Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia on Wednesday, Merkel expressed her appreciation to Indonesia for being a partner country in the Hannover Messe 2021 and believes that this partnership will be beneficial for efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.

Merkel also said that next year Indonesia will become the Chair of the G20, while Germany will be the Chair of the G7, for this it is hoped that a good synergy of work priorities can be carried out between the two countries.

“It is an honor for Indonesia to be appointed as Partner Country for the Hannover Fair 2021 and also later in 2023”, said President Jokowi.

On that occasion, the President also appreciated Chancellor Merkel’s leadership for nearly 16 years in improving bilateral relations between Indonesia and Germany.

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed openly several bilateral issues, including cooperation in the fields of health, economy and climate change. The issue of Myanmar has also become one of the topics of exchange of ideas for the two leaders in discussions on regional issues.

For the health sector, the two leaders exchanged ideas about efforts to deal with COVID-19 in their respective countries. Both expressed their concern that the continuing occurrence of vaccine nationalism would seriously disrupt the availability of world vaccines and disrupt equal access to vaccines for all.

In the investment and industry sector, Merkel sees the potential that Indonesia has to become an important partner for Germany. In this regard, President Jokowi said that investment plays an important role in economic recovery.

“Indonesia has just issued a Work Creation Law which will be able to support cooperation in the investment sector,” explained the President.

The President also invited Germany to cooperate in developing human resources (HR) through vocational schools and increasing German industrial investment to build Germany’s global production base and supply chain in the region.

“I offer Germany to develop a special German industrial zone (German Industrial Quarter) in the Batang Integrated Industrial Zone,” he said,

Meanwhile, regarding climate change, the two leaders have the same commitment to efforts to reduce emissions in accordance with the commitments that have been conveyed by each country.

“Indonesia has a high commitment to carrying out green development”, said the President. One example is the ongoing efforts to develop both mangrove forest restoration and sustainable energy development efforts.

Germany is one of Indonesia’s most important partners in Europe, where the two countries have had a comprehensive partnership since 2012.

The country is Indonesia’s largest trading partner in Europe, the 4th largest investment partner in Europe, and German tourists are the 3rd largest from Europe. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)