VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

resident Joko Widodo was warmly welcomed by the Royal Crown Prince of Saudi Muhammad bin Salman at a meeting held at the Palace of the Crown Prince of Riyadh on Sunday night (14/4). In addition to holding bilateral meetings, the Crown Prince also entertained the President in a dinner together.

The Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi who accompanied the President during the bilateral meeting said that Indonesia-Saudi Arabia agreed to establish a leader-level consultation mechanism and hold meetings once a year.

"Indonesia-Saudi also agreed to immediately hold a meeting to discuss investment and other economic cooperation," said Retno.

Saudi Arabia is interested in collaborating in the fields of energy and petro chemistry. This was conveyed again by the Crown Prince.

President Jokowi also said that Indonesia wanted to be part of the implementation of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

"The Crown Prince values ​​Indonesia's political stability and good economic growth. Indonesia is considered lucky to have a clear and advanced leader, "said Retno.

In the meeting, the Crown Prince conveyed the decision to add 10,000 pilgrimage quotas to Indonesia.

The sunny weather welcomed the arrival of President Joko Widodo and First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo at King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Sunday (14/4) at 08.50 Local Time (WS) or 12:50 WIB.

At the airport the President and Mrs. Iriana were welcomed among others by the Indonesian Ambassador to the Saudi Arabian Kingdom Agus Maftuh and the Governor of Riyadh Prince Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud and the Minister of Trade and Investment Majid Bin Abdullah Al Qasabi.

The plan at noon local time, the President will attend the invitation of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud for a lunch together and continued with a meeting at the Palace in Riyadh.

After meeting with King Salman, later in the evening, the President will meet with Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

In the evening, the President and Mrs. Iriana will leave for Jeddah. From Jeddah, the President and Mrs. Iriana will continue the journey to Mecca to perform Umrah services. ( biro pers ) 

Thousands of Indonesian citizens living in South Korea have come to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Seoul to participate in the presidential and legislative elections on Sunday, although they had to queue long and some did not necessarily get voting rights.

They came from various regions of Korea, including Daejeon, a distance of hundreds of kilometers from Seoul and small industrial cities like Ansan on the outskirts of the capital.

"The voting today is safe and under control. Not only in Seoul but also in other polling stations," said the chairman of the Seoul Overseas Election Committee (PPLN), Huda Ulinuha.

At the Indonesian Embassy, there are around 3,000 people registered in the final voter list. The figure has not counted hundreds of other Indonesian citizens who register in the place (special voter list - DPK) and have to wait for the rest of the ballots. They are those who are not certain yet to get the right to vote.

Some of those who have included in the special voter list have previously claimed to have been registered in the final voter list at other polling stations. However, because the polling stations set by PPLN were too far from the initial domicile, they finally asked to move the polling stations to Seoul which is easier to reach.

"I am domiciled in Incheon (Seoul's western suburb - ed), but my polling station is in Daegu, which is too far (more than 200km - red). Finally I asked to move to the polling station in Seoul," Christian Ho said.

In addition, many residents also sent ballots directly to the embassy for fear of not arriving. Actually they can send ballots by post to the embassy.

Overall, there are around 26,000 permanent voters in South Korea. As many as 8,000 of them chose to use the direct voting method to polling stations in four cities. Around 13,000 people use the postal method, while the rest are waiting for mobile polling stations in the outer cities of Korea. (ant)