Foreign Ministry celebrates 62nd birthday

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 08/20/2007 7:18 AM

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry celebrated its 62nd anniversary Sunday with a simple ceremony attended by diplomats and former ambassadors, which was marked by the launching of book profiling the country's foreign ministers and diplomats since 1945.

Noted diplomats and ambassadors, including Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono (former Indonesian ambassador to Washington), two former foreign ministers, Ali Alatas and Alwi Shihab, and experienced diplomats such as Wiryono and Nugroho Wisnumurti, attended the event.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda expressed the hope that Indonesia's present diplomacy would continue to bring benefits to the country and help resolve various international problems, as stipulated in the Constitution.

""We are here to pay tribute to our diplomats, who have successfully helped the country achieve independence and fight for international acceptance of not only that independence, but also the integration of our territory as we know it now,"" he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the celebration.

He said that the book was dedicated to current and past Indonesian diplomats and ambassadors.

Besides the book launching, the Foreign Ministry also introduced young ambassadors from all 33 provinces across the country during the celebration.

""These young ambassadors will bring the foreign policy and diplomacy down to earth as they can reach a wider audience, especially young people,"" Umar Hadi, the Foreign Ministry's director for general diplomacy, said.

He said that it was hoped that the young ambassadors could make more people in their regions understand what Indonesia had achieved in diplomacy and the challenges the country was facing on the international arena.

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