Saudi Foreign Minister to Visit Indonesia Next Week; Focus Will Be on Trade, Citizen Protection
Jakarta. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir will meet with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, in Jakarta next week, to review existing bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
The meeting is a follow-up to King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud's visit to Indonesia last year, when he and President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo oversaw the signing of several agreements, including some aimed at removing trade barriers and boosting cooperation on transnational crime, religion and air transportation.
"The meeting will focus on reviewing what's so far been achieved by implementing those agreements," Arrmanatha Nasir, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said during a press briefing in Jakarta on Thursday.
Indonesia will focus on improving protections for its more than 600,000 citizens, mostly domestic workers, in the Middle East.
The country will also discuss ways to save its citizens on death row in Saudi Arabia, which Arrmanatha said was an "integral" issue in bilateral relations between the two countries.
"We will also push for exports of tropical fruits from Indonesia and discuss ways to expand market access for these products," the spokesman said, referring to mangosteen, snake fruit and mango.
"This is a pretty important meeting for us, because Saudi Arabia is our largest trading partner in the Middle East," he added.
Total trade between the two countries amounted to more than $4.5 billion last year, with a surplus in Saudi Arabia's favor.
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