Foreign Minister Retno Hopes that Indonesia-China Trade Barriers Can Be Overcome

JAKARTA - Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said she was grateful for the increasingly balanced trade relations with China, hoping that existing obstacles could be removed, while receiving a visit from her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Jakarta, Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Retno said that Indonesia and China have had a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for 10 years. This was later supported by the RI-PRC Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Strengthening Plan of Action agreed last November.

"With this Plan of Action, future cooperation will become more focused and clear," said Foreign Minister Retno in a joint press statement with Foreign Minister Qin, Wednesday, February 22.

In the 4th Indonesia-PRC Joint Commission for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting, a number of matters were discussed by the two countries. It is known, the last JCBC was held in Beijing in 2018 ago.

The first thing that Minister Retno stressed was the importance of strengthening trade cooperation. Foreign Minister Retno said China was Indonesia's largest trading partner.

"What we should be grateful for is that the trade between the two countries has become more balanced. In the meeting, I specifically conveyed my request that various trade barriers be overcome," said Foreign Minister Retno in a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Qin in Jakarta, Wednesday, February 22.

Next, Foreign Minister Retno emphasized the importance of strengthening investment cooperation. Last year the PRC became the second largest investor in Indonesia.

"In the last quarter of last year, the PRC even became Indonesia's number one investor. Indonesia will continue to improve the investment climate by taking into account the interests of the Indonesian people. We also discussed various infrastructure cooperation at the meeting," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Then, Foreign Minister Retno and Foreign Minister Qin also discussed Indonesia's cooperation with China in the health sector.

"Indonesia sees the importance of strengthening cooperation, including regarding the implementation of cooperation in research and development of vaccines and genomics, strengthening the production capacity of medicinal raw materials (BBO), implementing sister hospital cooperation commitments and building herbal centers in Indonesia," she explained.

Apart from that, Foreign Minister Retno also underlined the importance of cooperation and connectivity after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, with good connectivity, economic relations and relations between communities will quickly recover.

"Therefore, Indonesia is pushing for the restoration of connectivity between Indonesia and China," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Prior to meeting Foreign Minister Retno, Foreign Minister Qin paid a courtesy visit to President Joko Widodo. On this occasion, President Jokowi expressed his views on how the two countries can continue to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, especially in the economic field and efforts to create regional peace and stability.