The Vice President Congratulates On The Opening Of The Kenya Embassy In Jakarta

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin received a courtesy call from Kenyan Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo at the Vice President's Official Residence/Photo: Antara

JAKARTA - Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin welcomed the opening of the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta, which is expected to improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on the opening of the Kenyan Embassy in Jakarta. This shows that our friendship, which has been good for a long time, is expected to be even better in the future", said the Vice President when receiving an honorary visit from Kenya's Foreign Minister, Raychelle Omamo, at the Vice President's Official Residence, Jakarta, Thursday 17 March.

In the 45-minute meeting, the Vice President expressed his hope that the opening of the Kenyan Embassy in Indonesia could increase cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic sector.

"I see that the Indonesia-Kenya trade balance is getting better, even last it reached 551 million US dollars in 2021", he said.

The vice president asked in the future to create more initiatives so that cooperation in other fields, such as health, defense, and infrastructure will also continue to increase.

"We are even open to making further efforts or new initiatives, especially in the fields of health, defense, infrastructure, and others", he explained.

In line with the Vice President, on this occasion Minister Omamo also said that Indonesia and Kenya have very warm bilateral relations.

"In fact, Indonesia was the first country to open a representative office in Kenya in 1982", he said.

Therefore, said Omamo, to strengthen the relationship, Kenya opened its embassy in Jakarta.

"We see this as important because Indonesia has a very strategic role in international relations and world politics", he said.

In addition, according to Omamo, Indonesia is seen as having economic power, culture, and having great influence in the Asian region.

"However, the most important thing is that Indonesia has a very important role in South-South cooperation and Indonesia is one of the leaders in that field", he said.

For information, Kenya is the 13th African country to have an embassy in Indonesia. Previously, Kenya mandated its embassy in Kuala Lumpur to oversee the Indonesia-Kenya bilateral relationship.

Also accompanying the Kenyan Foreign Minister on this courtesy visit was the Director-General of Bilateral Relations and Political Affairs of the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Galma Boru, Ad Interim Charge d'Affaires (KUAI) of the Kenyan Embassy to Indonesia, Jackson Nyagaka Onkoba, and the Director of Asia and Australasia of the Kenya Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paul Ndung'u.

Meanwhile, the Vice President was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno LP Marsudi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Indonesia to Kenya, Mohamad Hery Saripudin, Head of the Vice Presidential Secretariat, Ahmad Erani Yustika, Special Staff for the Vice President for Bureaucratic Reform, M Nasir, Special Staff for the Vice President for Communication and Information, Masduki Baidlowi, and Deputy for Government Policy Support and National Insight, Lukman Hakim Siregar.