VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Ambassador to Moldova, Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, said bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Republic of Moldova, which have been running for three decades, need to be improved. Increasing cooperation in the fields of economics, social, culture, education and the protection of Indonesian citizens were topics discussed in a meeting with the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu, which took place after the ceremony of handing over Letters of Credence at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday (23 /1/2024).

Moldova's support for Indonesia in the Human Rights Council for the period 2024 – 2026 as well as members of the UNESCO Executive Board for the period 2023 – 2027 and Indonesia's support for Moldova in the nomination for the Human Rights Council for the period 2027 – 2029, emphasize the importance of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Both parties agreed to increase economic cooperation, especially two-way trade. In this regard, it is very important to restore Indonesia's trade trend to a surplus, so that there is a balanced trade balance.

In the last two years, the trade balance between Indonesia and Moldova has still shown a negative trend with a deficit on the Indonesian side.
For Indonesia, Moldova is a partner in the Eastern European region which can be an alternative partner for exporting Indonesia's superior commodities, including palm oil. The Indonesian Ambassador hopes for Moldova's support regarding the continued down streaming of Indonesia's superior export commodities, which can contribute to achieving a positive trade balance for Indonesia.

The Indonesian Ambassador also emphasized the need to increase cooperation in the tourism sector. Diversification of tourism destinations in Indonesia needs to be promoted intensively, so that Moldovan citizens do not only visit Bali. For this reason, in 2024, various tourism and cultural promotion activities will be carried out in Moldova to increase awareness about Indonesia and to open up opportunities for cooperation between tour operators and travel agents from the two countries.

In the field of education and culture, the Indonesian government provides scholarships to Moldovan citizens consistently to introduce Indonesia from an academic and social perspective. The Indonesian Ambassador's mission is to increase the number of scholarships for Moldovan students and explore opportunities for collaboration between universities in the two countries for joint research and student exchanges to increase people-to-people contact.
Regarding the protection of Indonesian citizens, the Ambassador paid attention to Indonesian citizens living in Moldova. Until now, though not many, all Indonesian citizens live well in Moldova.