At the beginning of today’s meeting with the Indonesian Ambassador, the Head of the Parliamentary Friendship Group with Indonesia Ljiljana Malusic highlighted the long tradition of friendly relations between the two countries dating back to the Non-Aligned Movement.
She pointed out that the relations between the two countries are at a high level and without outstanding issues, as evidenced by numerous visits and contacts resulting in the signing of a Joint Statement on the improvement of relations and cooperation between the two countries in April 2016. Malusic also stressed that Indonesia is the only country that has an interreligious dialogue with Serbia, in fact, it has so far had four dialogues of the kind. According to the PFG Head, the parliamentary cooperation between the two countries is dynamic, unbroken and represents an important segment of the overall bilateral relations.
Informing the Ambassador that the PFG with Indonesia boasts 21 MPs, she expressed hope that, when conditions allow, the Serbian Parliamentary Group would pay a return visit in order to develop even better parliamentary cooperation and broaden the knowledge of the culture and tradition of the Indonesian people.
Malusic thanked the leadership of Indonesia for the country’s consistent support for Serbia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as for not voting in favour of the so-called state of Kosovo’s UNESCO bid.
Speaking of economic cooperation, Malusic pointed the 71 million euros of trade exchange in 2020, with a deficit on our side, and added that Serbia is interested in boosting the placement of its products on the Indonesian market. She expressed satisfaction with the fact that there are two Indonesian factories operating on the territory of Serbia and employing a significant number of people.
PFG Head Malusic spoke of the potential of improving cooperation in the fields of culture, education, science and technology, mentioning the student exchange programme operating within project "World in Serbia".
Ljiljana Malusic took the opportunity to thank Indonesia for the donation of medical equipment in the fight against the pandemic, one more proof of the friendship between the two countries even in difficult situations.
Indonesian Ambassador to Serbia Mochammad Yudha thanked the host for the opportunity to meet with the members of the PFG with Indonesia and agreed with Ljiljana Malusic that the relations between the two countries are deeply friendly and date back to 1954.
He also spoke about the Indonesian factories in Serbia, hoping that they would expand their business and open up capacities to employ additional people. He opined that there is room to improve military cooperation, as well as in the fields of science, culture, tourism and agriculture.
The Ambassador pointed out that Indonesia would continue to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia.
At the end of the meeting, the officials opined that the two nations enjoy close friendly relations despite the geographical distance.
The meeting was also attended by the following members of the PFG with Indonesia: Milanka Jevtovic Vukojicic, Violeta Ocoljkovic, Predrag Rajic, Vuk Mircetic, Natasa Jovanovic, Prof. Dr Ljubisa Stojmirovic, Viktor Jevtovic and Milosav Milojevic.
