TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riyad al-Maliki and Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi on Tuesday, Oct. 16, held the first bilateral consultation meeting in the ministry building, Jakarta. The meeting was one of the symbols of Indonesia’s continued support for Palestine.
Both ministers discussed efforts for partnership enhancement in the economic sector, such as zero percent import tax for dates and olive oil from Palestine. The ministers agreed to together encourage communications between Indonesian and Palestinian entrepreneurs for business development.
Retno during the meeting affirmed that Indonesia committed to concretely contribute for the development of Palestine by offering fund aid of more than Rp110 billion, from which the latter increased the relief aid for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and intensified the partnership in the capacity building program.
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“The Forum Rektor also provides scholarships for Palestinian students, while scholarship in Indonesia Aviation School is currently under process,” said Retno.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry recorded it had trained 1,887 officials and citizens of Palestine in 171 areas of expertise, including governmental sector, law enforcement, food and drug monitoring, and other technical expertise. The total amount of aid from Indonesian people amounted to US$2.92 million or around RP44.4 billion and two tons of rice.
The first bilateral consultation meeting of Indonesia-Palestine was one of the main agenda of Solidarity Week for Palestine which commenced on Oct 13-17, 2018. The launching of Palestine Walk in Bandung, West Java Province took place on Oct 13 followed by Walk for Peace and Humanity on Sunday, Oct 14.
SUCI SEKARWATI