Indonesia's Retno Marsudi Meets with Her Dutch Counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot
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1 February 2024 12:48 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with her Dutch counterpart Hanke Bruins Slot on Wednesday, Jan. 31. The Netherlands is one of Indonesia's key partners as it is the largest trading partner and the first largest investment partner in Europe.
In a statement on Wednesday, Retno emphasized that the Action Plan for 2024-2025, which was signed with Hanke in Jakarta in October 2023, could be implemented, with priority programs in energy transition, digital industry, and the return of Indonesia's historical goods.
She also emphasized the need for both countries to strengthen sustainable palm oil production. Currently, palm oil accounts for about 14 percent of Indonesia's total exports to the Netherlands.
Meanwhile, Minister Hanke expressed her commitment to work together in the development of Indonesia’s new capital city IKN, especially in the areas of water and sustainable cities. The Netherlands declared its support for Indonesia to become a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Retno Marsudi and Hanke Bruins Slot presented at the meeting of ASEAN-EU foreign ministers in Brussels on February 1-2. The European Union is one of the most important partners of ASEAN, with a population of more than 650 million people and enormous potential to develop cooperation with the European Union.
Since 2016, Indonesia has been negotiating the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the European Union. Indonesia hoped that the principle of mutual benefit would guide the negotiations.
Several European Union policies are considered detrimental to Indonesia, including those related to palm oil and the European Union Deforestation Free Regulation (EUDR). Indonesia hoped that the Netherlands would continue to support the Indonesia-EU CEPA negotiations.
SUCI SEKARWATI
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