Today, at Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, National Assembly Speaker Nebojsa Stefanovic and the Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Marzuki Alie, signed a Cooperation Agreement between the two parliaments, which they believe would further deepen parliamentary cooperation grounded in a long and friendly tradition, strengthened by initiatives and meetings both at the parliamentary level and the level of delegations whose priority is economic cooperation, with defined spheres of interest of both sides.
Talking to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Marzuki Alie, Speaker Stefanovic deemed that the signing of the Cooperation Agreement is just the first step and an incentive for more intensive cooperation at more than just the parliamentary level, and said that he expected the anticipated ratification of the economic agreement to prompt faster and more successful business cooperation.
Speaker Alie agreed with the sentiment, adding that the parliaments play both an important role in the democratisation of the country and a significant role in the expansion of economic cooperation, reminding of the Indonesian parliamentary delegation’s recent visit to Serbia.
Concerning economic cooperation, the officials highlighted the agricultural, trade and military potentials as priorities.
Speaker Stefanovic also thanked the hosts for the principled support as regards the Kosovo-Metohija issue, stressing that it is not a religious, but an ethnic conflict which Serbia attempts to resolve through negotiations, and informing the hosts about Serbia’s efforts to maintain and promote multi-ethnicity and multi-religiousness.
Speaker Alie also emphasised the fact that Indonesia enjoys a high degree of religious tolerance.
The meeting focused on the perspectives for opening an Indonesian distribution centre in Serbia which would facilitate the entry of Indonesian goods into the Serbian, as well as third country markets.
Declaring that Serbia is doing its utmost to facilitate the flow of foreign investment, Speaker Stefanovic presented Speaker Alie with an invitation to visit Serbia.
The National Assembly Speaker also met with the Chairman of the Indonesian People’s Consultative Assembly, Taufik Kiemas, the Chairman of the Parliament’s Regional Representatives Council, Irman Gusman, as well as Achmad Kurniadi, Deputy Chairman of the Investment Board, with whom he discussed types of economic cooperation and agreed to exchange economic delegations and that an Indonesian delegation should soon visit Serbia in order to investigate the potentials for investment and setting up Indonesian companies in Serbia. Both sides agreed that opening a direct flight between Belgrade and Jakarta would facilitate business contacts and make it possible for the Serbian diaspora in Australia to travel to its mother country faster and more easily.