VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, has conducted a Bilateral Meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister, Taro Kono, in Osaka on June 27, 2019. Opening the meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Kono welcomed the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific and appreciated Indonesia's leadership in the region.

Both Foreign Ministers also discussed the development of the situation at Rakhine State and Minister of Foreign Affairs Kono expressed appreciation for the role of the AHA Center. "The AHA Center has done a good job," said Foreign Minister Kono.

Still related to regional issues, the two Foreign Ministers hope that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations can be concluded by the end of this year.

Regarding bilateral relations, the two Foreign Ministers agreed that the 2 + 2 meeting (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defense) will be held in the second half of 2019. On this occasion, the two Foreign Ministers also welcomed the completion of the General Review of Economic Partnership Cooperation (IJEPA) negotiations and committed to finalizing the discussion of the IJEPA amendment protocol before the end of 2019.

The two Foreign Ministers had the opportunity to discuss the progress of employment with the signing of the MoU on the cooperation of specific skills and the technical cooperation MoU for apprenticeship programs in Japan. With this agreement, Indonesia's skilled workers, including Indonesian apprentices in Japan, now have a greater opportunity to fill the fields of work in the formal sector, such as health, agriculture, fisheries and automotive. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)