TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said on Tuesday that the Turkish government planned to provide visa-free entry to Indonesian citizens visiting Turkey.

“The Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister conveyed its new policy to provide visa-free entry for Indonesian citizens,” Retno said at a press conference on Tuesday night, October 12.

Retno explained the policy will come into effect in the near future. “Once there is a decision on when it will be implemented, we will announce it to the public,” she added.

During her visit to Turkey, Retno was accompanied by a team from the Health Ministry, state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, and developer PT Waskita Karya. The bilateral visit resulted in four collaborative programs, including the Indonesia-Turkey joint declaration on the mutual recognition of vaccine certificates and the travel corridor arrangement.

The other programs include the MoU between Pertamina and a Turkish pharmaceutical company Abdi Ibrahim on the production of paracetamol, the signing of a letter of intent for the development cooperation with the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency or TIKA, and the signing of the deal between PT Waskita Karya and Nurol Company on a construction cooperation project.

Read: Turkey Eases Covid-19 Restrictions as Pandemic Stabilizes

FRISKI RIANA