Meet The Speaker Of The Chilean Parliament, Puan Promotes The Issue Of Women's Leadership

JAKARTA - DPR Speaker Puan Maharani will take part in the 10th G20 Parliamentary Speaker's Summit (P20) in Brazil. Before going to Brazil, Puan and the DPR delegation stopped to Chile, South America, to meet with the Speaker of Parliament, Karol Cariola Oliva.

Puan's bilateral meeting with the Speaker of the Chilean Parliament, Karol Cariola Oliva, was held Monday, November 4 afternoon local time at Congreso Nacional de Chile Valparaiso. Both are leaders of female legislative institutions.

Puan was accompanied by Deputy Chairperson of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Agency (BKSAP) Irine Yusiana Roba Putri, Deputy Chairman of Commission XII DPR Dony Maryadi, Member of Commission III of the DPR Gilang Dhielafararez, and Ambassador of the LBBP RI to Chile Muhammad Anshor.

This bilateral meeting with the Speaker of the Chilean Parliament is Puan's first overseas working visit after being re-inducted as Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives.

"This visit is important because it shows the seriousness of the DPR RI to cooperate with various countries. Although far away, while there are many benefits for the Indonesian people and their partner countries, we will do it," explained Puan.

Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Chile have been going on for 59 years. Ahead of the 60th anniversary of bilateral relations, the DPR wants to create positive momentum so that relations between the two countries are getting closer. To the Speaker of the Chilean Parliament, Puan revealed that Indonesia has just had a new government cabinet and DPR membership for the 2024-2029 period.

"Of course, I will encourage this new government to strengthen bilateral relations with countries in South America, including Chile," said Puan.

Furthermore, Puan explained that Indonesia-Chili cooperation has developed rapidly. Not only in the economic and trade fields, but also in socio-cultural, disaster mitigation, tourism and education. According to Puan, this good relationship was also formed from inter-parliamentary visits, student exchanges and cultural missions.

"I encourage the parliaments of the two countries to provide support for various initiatives to improve relations between the two countries," he said.

Puan said that the strengthening of bilateral relations between countries requires parliamentary support. Because parliament has the authority and can determine the work of the government in a democratic country.

The Indonesian House of Representatives itself already has the Indonesian 'Chile' Cooperation Group (GKSB) in the 2019-2024 period. He hopes that for the current DPR period, the DPR and the Chilean parliament can resume the bilateral cooperation group as a means of dialogue on various important issues and further strengthen Indonesia-Chili relations.

"I am pleased that the Chilean Parliament has formed the Chile-Indonesian Interparlamentarios Group. We can exchange ideas about carrying out parliamentary duties in the fields of legislature, budget and supervision," said Puan.

The former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture added that the group is also useful for consultation between Indonesian and Chilean parliaments on various issues. According to Puan, consultation between Indonesian and Chilean parliaments can emphasize issues related to the implementation of democracy, the issue of development, and gender equality.

"As fellow women's parliamentary leaders, we can have a dialogue to encourage greater women's participation in politics in our country, and in the world," he told Karol Cariola Oliva.

"I am the first chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives to be female in Indonesia, and even elected for 2 terms. This certainly gives a big encouragement for Indonesian women to play a role in politics," added Puan.

Puan also assessed that Indonesia and Chile's bilateral relations have grown positively since the enactment of the Indonesia-Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IC-CEPA) which was held on August 10, 2019. IC-CEPA is Indonesia's first free trade cooperation in Latin America.

For Indonesia, said Puan, Chile is a strategic partner in South America and is ready to be the entry point for Chile's commodities for the ASEAN market with a population of more than 670 million people.

"I also see the potential to make Chile one of the entrances or hubs for Indonesia's export commodities to Latin America," he said.

Puan emphasized that this cooperation is not solely related to government and state policies. He said that Parliament also has many roles in strengthening inter-community relations. This is because parliament has a direct mandate from the people who vote for it.

"Relations between people who are close to becoming pillars of solid Indonesia-Chili cooperation," said Puan.

Puan assessed that strengthening cooperation between communities could be carried out by focusing on cooperation in education, socio-cultural, and tourism.

"I encourage more cooperation in the field of education. Indonesia provides various scholarships for partner countries, including Chile to learn Indonesian culture and language," Bung Karno's grandson hoped.

Puan then invited the Speaker of the Chilean Parliament, Karol Cariola Oliva to visit Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Karol Cariola Oliva in a meeting asked about political and social developments in Indonesia, especially after the change of government and the new DPR period.

"And congratulations to Mrs. Puan Maharani for being re-elected for the second time as chairman of the DPR," said Karol Cariola Oliva.

For information, Puan will attend the 10th P20 in Brasilia, Brazil which will be held on November 6-8. P20 or Parliament 20 is a parliamentary leadership forum for the G20 countries which is part of the G20 Summit.

As the holder of the P20 presidency this year, Brazil's parliament takes the theme 'Parliament to a Fair World and Sustainable Planet'. There are 62 delegates as parliamentary representatives from 35 countries who will attend this forum. In addition, there are 7 representatives of institutions invited to P20 in Brazil, including the United Nations (UN) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) which are international parliamentary forums.

P20 is a platform that allows the parliament of G20 countries to discuss global issues. The goal is to increase the involvement of parliament, government and other stakeholders in implementing the G20 results as a state association that has the largest economic power in the world.

In the P20 series in Brazil, there will also be a meeting of female lawmakers in the G20 countries. This meeting was to discuss the implementation of recommendations from the 1st Meeting of Women Parliamentarians of P20 which was held at Macei totaling on July 1.2 last.