Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) received a courtesy call from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi at the Merdeka Palace, here on Friday.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi remarked that the Presidentd welcomed the UAE minister while highlighting that it was not easy to arrange a trip amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Furthermore, the visit provides strategic value and reflects the commitment of the two countries to increase trade to assist post-pandemic economic recovery,” the minister noted during a virtual press conference broadcast through the Presidential Secretariat’s YouTube channel after accompanying Jokowi at the meeting.

Marsudi noted that the UAE minister of state visited Indonesia to jointly launch the Indonesia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IUAE-CEPA) along with Indonesian Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi. At the meeting, the head of state also welcomed the launch of the agreement as well as the first round of the agreement negotiations that had been conducted.

“The president expects that the negotiations will be completed in less than one year. It is hoped to achieve significant progress in the next few months,” Marsudi remarked.

The president also informed that the trade between Indonesia and the UAE could still be increased since it had only reached $2.9 billion in 2020. Marsudi echoed Jokowi’s aspirations that at the end of the meeting, significant progress would be achieved in the cooperation between both nations for Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund.

The president also lauded the UAE’s support for Indonesia amid the pandemic, comprising the donation of 750 thousand doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines.

“Later, the health cooperation issue will become one of the collaboration priorities between the two countries,” Marsudi added.

Source: Antara News