VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Foreign Affairs MinisterRetnoMarsudi held a bilateral meeting with Dutch Foreign Minister StephanusAbraham Blok at Pancasila Building, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta, on Tuesday, July 3. In this meeting, the two Foreign Ministers agreed to increase cooperation between the two countries in various fields. In a joint press statement with Foreign Minister Blok, Foreign Minister RetnoMarsudi said that Indonesia and the Netherlands have agreed on cooperation in the field of timber trade through EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) mechanisms and security, including drug trafficking , terrorism, and cyber security.

“I also mentioned our willingness to work together in enhancing the implementation of FLEGT license to improve market access for the Indonesian legal timber. We also discuss effort to strengthen security cooperation, I specifically mentioned the need to strengthen cooperation to combat drug trafficking. We discuss also about the cooperation to combat terrorism. Indonesia will not allow its country to be a  market for drug traffickers. I welcome off course the signing of cooperation of cyber security,” Retno Marsudi said.

Foreign Minister RetnoMarsudi further explained that Indonesia and the Netherlands in 2018 have entered the fifth year of the Joint Declaration on Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). It certainly can be a momentum to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries. Currently, Indonesia is the second largest trading partner in the European region for Indonesia. The value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and the Netherlands in 2017 recorded reached five billion US Dollar which supported by palm oil as the largest export commodity. (VOI/Rezha/DP)