VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Chairman of the Study Board of the People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia,  Djarot Syaiful Hidayat and a number of other Assembly members paid a visit to Bulgaria to strengthen bilateral relations of both  countries on Monday (29/4).  The meeting took place at the Bulgarian parliament building and was chaired by a representative of the Bulgarian Parliament as well as the Chairman of the Indonesia Friendship Parliament  Bulgaria,  Stanislav Bogdanski.  In a press release of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia Sofia in Jakarta  on Wednesday (1/5)  Djarot appreciated the warm welcome of Bulgarian parliamentarians.  Even during recess,  they could still conduct meetings and discussions to realize the improvement of bilateral relations between the two countries.

On one hand, Indonesia, as the largest economy in the ASEAN region with its growing potential, can be an ideal entry point for Bulgaria to enter the ASEAN common market.  On the other hand, Bulgaria as part of the European Union is expected to be one of the entrances to deeper partnership cooperation with Indonesia.  Therefore, Djarot hopes  that  it will create friendship,  mutual trust and strengthen between Indonesia and Bulgaria  for the long term, and it  will give a positive image of both parties with all partners in the region. Partnership between Indonesia and Bulgaria as sovereign countries is certainly important to share historical experiences on strengthening democracy and national development.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Ambassador to Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania,  Iwan Bogananta conveyed that  Indonesia-Bulgaria bilateral relations, which  have been established for 68 years,  are very close. Even, both countries have had  a lot of cooperation  in the political,  economic,  defense  and socio-cultural fields.  Iwan also admitted   during his time as Ambassador in Bulgaria, there was an increase in bilateral trade trends by 49 percent with a total trade value of US$755 million or around Rp12, 28 trillion. 

Moreover, according to Ambassador Iwan, his side has also materialized Indonesia's ‘Spice Up The World’ program by  implementing the Rendang Goes to Europe program, in this case building a production factory and supply chain of Indonesian food in Bulgaria. On that occasion,  Stanislav Bogdanski also appreciated the visit of Indonesian parliamentarians to Bulgaria.  According to Stanislav, over the last four years,  the cooperation of both countries has continued to increase,  not only between governments,  but also with the private sector and people-to-people contacts.  He encouraged the strengthening of cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries.