VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi will receive a working visit of Brunei Darussalam Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Erywan Yusof in Jakarta on Friday, July 20, 2018. The two ministers will meet in the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) corridor to discuss various issues, covering economies that include trade and investment. In addition, the two foreign ministers will also discuss the issue on Indonesian migrant workers.

The bilateral meeting is a follow up of the meeting between President Indonesia Joko Widodo and Sultan Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah in May 2018. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also considered that the meeting of the two ministers will be an important opportunity for Indonesia to boost the economic strength for both countries. According to Southeast Asia's Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia, Denny Abdi, this is due to Brunei Darussalam's plan to diversify the economy to get out of dependence from the oil sector.

"So far Brunei has relied on its economic growth from oil reserves, but now they are thinking of diversifying to see other growth sources. In this case Indonesia which has a lot of attractions for investment is considered as one of the destinations for Brunei investors. So we will do this, we will discuss about it. Brunei Foreign Minister will also bring in a number of entrepreneurs. So we will also hold a business meeting between entrepreneurs see the opportunity," Denny Abdi said.

Related to investment, Denny Abdi underlines the interest of Brunei investors to invest in the tourism sector, mainly in the Ten New Bali project. Ten New Bali is the idea of ​​President Joko Widodo to diversify the popular tourism destinations of Indonesia in other areas besides Bali, the Island of the Gods. As for the issue of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Brunei Darussalam, Denny Abdi also underlines the number of Indonesian migrant workers in Brunei which reaches more than 80,000 workers or 20 percent of the total population of Brunei. Most of them are professional workers with special skills. Therefore the issue of migrant workers will be a high concern for both Foreign Ministers. (VOI/Rezha/Ndy TRANS/AHM)