Vice President Ma'ruf Amin Receives Kenyan Foreign Minister's Visit

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin received a visit from Kenyan Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo at the Vice President's Official Residence, Jakarta, Thursday. (HO-BPMI Setwapres)

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin received a visit from Kenyan Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo regarding the opening of the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta.

"This visit is to open the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta. So today, March 17, 2022, the Kenyan Foreign Minister will open the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta", said Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi as quoted by Antara, Thursday, March 17.

According to Retno, the meeting also discussed several commitments for cooperation between Indonesia and Kenya.

"In the meeting, several things were discussed, including the commitment to increase cooperation in the trade sector. Our trade with Kenya is growing very well", said Retno.

In 2021, according to Retno, Indonesia-Kenya trade growth will reach more than 90 percent, while the trend in the last 5 years is an increase of more than 15 percent per year.

"So the Vice President conveyed the importance of the two countries to continue to strengthen relations in the trade sector. In addition, the Vice President also expressed his desire to continue to strengthen cooperation in the health sector, defense industry and also cooperation in infrastructure projects in Kenya", explained Retno.

Meanwhile, Kenyan Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo, according to Retno, called Indonesia a leading country for developing countries.

"Leaders from Southern countries and want South-South cooperation to be enhanced and she conveyed that the opening of this embassy coincided with Indonesia as the president of the G20 and conveyed that Indonesia's leadership in the G20 was highly respected", added Retno.

Retno said Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo hoped that Indonesia's leadership in the G20 could be beneficial for developing countries.

"Because she knows that Indonesia has a high commitment to call for the interests of developing countries in a global context", said Retno.

Based on data from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade, in the 2017-2021 period, the Indonesia-Kenya trade trend grew 15.73 percent with the main product being non-oil and gas.

In 2020, Indonesia-Kenya recorded a trade surplus of US$361.68 million, while in 2021 it would reach US$513.1 million with Indonesia's trade surplus of 71.92 percent.