President Jokowi Receives Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister's Visit To Discuss Hajj Implementation

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo received an honorary visit from the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Menlu) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Al Saud, at the Merdeka Palace. One of the discussions that was carried out was the implementation of the Hajj.

During the meeting, President Jokowi and the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister discussed various things, apart from the interests of the people, but also related to the economies of the two countries.

"The President spoke about the issue of the interests of the people, which in this case is the implementation of the Hajj pilgrimage. The President said he appreciated the implementation of this year's Hajj after the pandemic for two years, said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, who accompanied the President in the meeting, via information quoted by Antara, Tuesday, June 7.

Foreign Minister Retno said the President appreciated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia because Indonesia had the largest quota, which was more than 100 thousand people, to be exact, 100.051 people.

With the improvement in the pandemic situation, the President hopes that the quota for hajj departures will continue to be increased. The President also prayed for the implementation of this year's hajj to run smoothly and safely.

Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister explained about future plans, namely, if the situation improves, the hajj quota will be increased.

In addition, the government of Saudi Arabia will also continue to build facilities to support the implementation of the pilgrimage.

Second, President Jokowi conveyed Indonesia's plan to build an "Indonesian House" in the City of Mecca, to provide maximum support to Indonesian Umrah and Hajj pilgrims.

"We ask for support from government authorities, from Saudi Arabia, and this message will be conveyed by the Saudi Foreign Minister to the authorities in Saudi Arabia," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Regarding inter-community relations, Foreign Minister Retno reported to President Jokowi that the Saudi Arabian authorities had lifted the ban on their citizens visiting Indonesia.

According to the Foreign Minister, this is the result of long-standing discussions between the Indonesian side and Saudi Arabia, based on data regarding the COVID-19 condition in Indonesia which continues to receive appreciation from the world.

"The United Nations itself gives appreciation to Indonesia, how Indonesia manages COVID, and yesterday we also knew that the Prime Minister of Australia gave the same appreciation," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Therefore, the Government of Indonesia welcomes the decision so that it is expected to have an impact on tourism as well as business visits in Indonesia.

Finally, President Jokowi also conveyed one of the plans for economic cooperation in the energy transition sector which is expected to be realized soon.

During the meeting, President Jokowi was also accompanied by Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung. Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister was accompanied by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Republic of Indonesia Esam A. Abid Althagafi.