President Jokowi Holds Talks with Visiting Dutch PM Mark Rutte

Jakarta, 24 Safar 1438/23 November 2016 (MINA) – President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) received Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte at the Merdeka Palace here on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting and the signing of a memorandum of understanding, according to Palace press bureau information.

“It shows great trust and commitments from Dutch government and private sector to further enhance cooperation with Indonesia,” President Widodo said in a joint press conference held after the signing ceremony.

The president said relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands has been very close and continues to improve.

Rutte said Indonesia is one of the Netherlands strategic partners with two-way trade reaching 3.2 billion euro (3.4 billion U.S. dollars) last year.

“I expect that we can further explore more cooperation as there are many potentialities from the partnership that we can work on,” Rutte said.

Visiting Semarang

Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said the Dutch prime minister would be in Indonesia from November 21 to 24, 2016, Antara News reported.

Accompanied by three ministers, including the Minister of Trade and Development Cooperation and the Minister Responsible for Infrastructure, and about 200 businessmen, Rutte arrived on Monday and started an activity in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday.

In Semarang, Rutte held a meeting with the Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo and discussed many things, including ways to protect the beaches and exploring the possibility of creating an offshore dam.

Rutte had a hour-and-a-half-long meeting with the Central Java governor, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing Basuki Hadimuldjono, Semarang Mayor Hendrar Prihadi and Central Javas chairman of the parliament Rukma Setyabudi to discuss the handling of a number of agreements.

“One of the agreements was related to the management of the old city of Semarang,” Rutte noted.

Meanwhile, Pranowo added that several agreements reached at the meeting included handling of floods, the management of the old city, as well as agreements about investment and cultural cooperation. (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)