Retno, Bishop Meet Ahead of Bali Process to Talk Bilateral Issues
Jakarta. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi met with her Australian counterpart Julie Bishop on Monday (21/03) ahead of the Bali Process Ministerial Summit held later this week in Nusa Dua, Bali.
Both foreign ministers — who will be co-chairing the summit — discussed boosting efforts towards producing a declaration against human trafficking, people smuggling and transnational crimes.
“It is another meeting we had after I met FM Julie Bishop in Sydney. Aside from discussing bilateral issues, we also discussed the preparation of Bali Process, where we will be the co-chairs on Wednesday,” Retno said.
The Bali Process is a crucial forum to negotiate a regional response to the 1,800 refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh, who arrived in Indonesia after crossing the Andaman and Bengal seas in May last year.
The summit expects 44 member and observer states to attend, as well as six international organizations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said.
"So far, 13 ministers and eight deputy ministers have confirmed. Others are senior officials," he said.
The Monday morning discussion also covered several bilateral issues, including strengthening trade, community relations, education and counterterrorism.
Bishop said Australia sees unlimited potential for increasing economic engagement between both states.
"We also discussed other bilateral issues, including the cooperation on counterterrorism to ensure Australian and Indonesia share as much information as possible to keep our people and region safe from terrorism," Bishop said.
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