President Jokowi Receives Honorary Visit from Minister of Foreign Affairs of PRC

By : Nata Kesuma | Thursday, February 23 2023 - 06:45 IWST

President Jokowi welcoming the arrival of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, Wednesday (22/02/2023), at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta. (Photo: BPMI Setpres/Lukas )

INDUSTRY.co.id - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) received a courtesy call from the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Menlu) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Qin Gang, on Wednesday (22/02/2023), at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, who also accompanied President Jokowi in the meeting, said that Foreign Minister Qin Gang's visit was his first official visit after being appointed in December 2022.

"This visit is the first official visit by the PRC Foreign Minister to our region and Jakarta for this time is a single destination , " said Foreign Minister Retno in her statement after the meeting.

Foreign Minister Retno said that there were several things that were conveyed by President Jokowi in the meeting with Foreign Minister Qin Gang. One of them is regarding the importance of increasing mutually beneficial economic cooperation between Indonesia and China.

"In this case, I need to say that so far China is Indonesia's largest trading partner and our trade status is getting more and more balanced," said Retno.

On this occasion, President Jokowi also conveyed several strategic partnerships that needed to be increased between the two countries. Starting from the completion of the Jakarta-Bandung fast train project, the construction of a green industrial park in Kalimantan, the construction of the Archipelago's Capital City, to the downstream industry that is being run by the Indonesian government.

"The PRC Foreign Minister conveyed his commitment to continue to improve relations or economic cooperation with Indonesia, including to increase imports from Indonesia, especially for agricultural products," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Finally, the President conveyed the importance of Indonesia and China being the engine of peace and stability in the region. According to the President, economic development cannot be carried out without peace and stability in the region.

"And in the meeting earlier, the PRC Foreign Minister expressed strong support for Indonesia's chairmanship in ASEAN," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Accompanying the President in the meeting was Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.