Indonesia, Japan agree to enhance bilateral relations
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in political security, economy, trade and investment at the sixth Indonesia-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Jakarta on June 25.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi (right) shakes hands with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono at the 6th Indonesia-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Jakarta on June 25. (Photo: Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia’s ForeignMinister Retno Marsudi and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono agreed tostrengthen bilateral cooperation in political security, economy, trade andinvestment at the sixth Indonesia-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Jakarta on June25.
Indonesia and Japan are strategic partners andtwo important countries in the region, Retno said in a joint press statementafter the meeting, adding that their partnership contributes not only to theprosperity of the two peoples but also to regional peace, stability andprosperity.
They agreed to speed up the implementation ofthe Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement with the target to concludeit this year.
The two sides will work towards making Indonesiaas a production base for Japanese manufacturing products for the third market,including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
On infrastructure development, both FMs agreedon the need to accelerate Japanese project investment in Indonesia such as massrapid transit (MRT), Patimban port in West Java, and railway from Jakarta toSurabaya.
Regarding maritime cooperation, they agreed tostrengthen cooperation, particularly in capacity building for infrastructuredevelopment, fisheries and navigation safety.
As regards the security matter, Japan ensuredthe supported activities to counter violent extremism and terrorism, includingproviding a biometric security system in Gelora Bung Karno stadium for theAsian Games 2018.
The diplomats noted the growing economicpartnership between Indonesia and Japan in recent years with two-way tradereaching 33.03 billion USD in 2017.
Japan was the second biggest investor and tradepartner of Indonesia in 2017 with total investment of 5 billion USD.-VNA
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Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi (right) shakes hands with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono at the 6th Indonesia-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Jakarta on June 25. (Photo: Antara/Sigid Kurniawan) 
