Indonesia respects Japanese PM Fukuda's resignation: Dino

Desy Nurhayati , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 09/03/2008 10:46 AM | World

Indonesia respects the decision of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to resign, and hopes to strengthen bilateral ties with his successor, presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said Tuesday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appreciated Fukuda's efforts in maintaining good relations between Indonesia and Japan during his term in office, Dino added.

"The reasons behind his resignation are internal Japanese matters, but President Yudhoyono wants to express his gratitude to Fukuda," he said at a press conference at the presidential office.

Yudhoyono expects to maintain relations with Fukuda and hopes Fukuda will continue to play a role in enhancing cooperation between the two countries, he added.

"The President sees Fukuda as a visionary statesman with high integrity. Fukuda has been able to accelerate diplomatic ties between Indonesia and Japan despite his short tenure," Dino said.

Yudhoyono met Fukuda for the last time in Hokkaido when Indonesia was invited to the G8 meeting several months ago, during which the two leaders also held bilateral talks.

Dino said Fukuda also visited Jakarta as chairman of the Indonesia-Japan parliamentary cooperation team before being appointed the 91st Japanese prime minister, replacing Shinzo Abe.

Fukuda announced his resignation on Monday in an effort to break a political deadlock, becoming the second Japanese leader to resign abruptly in less than a year.

Fukuda took office last September after Abe suddenly resigned after just a year in office.

Following Fukuda's resignation, Indonesia hopes the two countries can maintain their long-term strategic partnership, signed in November 2006, Dino said.

In a bid to boost economic cooperation, Indonesia and Japan established the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in July. This year, the two countries are also celebrating 50 years of bilateral relations.

"We hope whoever the next Japanese prime minister is, we can have a stronger relationship, including optimizing the EPA scheme to enhance investment and trade," Dino said.

Japan is Indonesia's main trading partner. Trade volume between the two countries currently stands at around US$30 billion, with Indonesia enjoying a $17 billion trade surplus.