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esponding to The Jakarta Post'€™s opinion article on Jan. 25 titled '€œBlueprint needed for foreign policy on Latin America'€ there are several points in the article that are inaccurate.   

Regarding the writer'€™s observation that Indonesia lacks initiative and has no guided direction to foster bilateral relations with Latin American countries, I beg to differ strongly.

Indonesia has always taken the initiative in fostering bilateral relations with Latin American countries.

In the last five years, Indonesia has actively initiated the opening of diplomatic relations with, among other countries, Belize, El Salvador, Antigua and Barbuda, the Dominican Republic and St. Kitts and Nevis.

Furthermore, numerous visits to Latin American countries '€” ranging from state leaders to working level officials '€” have been conducted intensively by Indonesia in the last decade, e.g. presidential visits to Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico.

Official visits to Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, the Bahamas, Cuba, Suriname and many other countries were driven by the Foreign Ministry as a trailblazer opening doors for businesses.

Most of the visits were recorded as initial visits. The Foreign Ministry always has clear guidelines in regard to economic diplomacy with Latin America and Eastern Europe.

Indonesia also took the lead as chair of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) for four consecutive years to bring 16 Asian countries closer to 20 countries in Latin America.

Our work in hosting the FEALAC Ministerial Meeting in 2013 brought dividends to Indonesia through the signing of various bilateral agreements and concrete bilateral projects.

The writer'€™s point about Indonesia and the Chile Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement clearly shows that the writer is still a novice in international trade matters. It'€™s bizarre and quite hard to imagine that imports of wine in the country with the world'€™s largest number of Muslims would be a priority over other basic staple needs.

In closing, Indonesia has always placed the Latin American region as one of our main priorities in economic diplomacy, because of that region'€™s vast potential.  

We appreciate any input to enhance the foreign relationship, but constructive criticism with solid data will have a better outcome for public discourse.

Musthofa Taufik Abdul Latif    
Director for South America and Caribbean Affairs  
Directorate general of America and Europe
Foreign Ministry
Jakarta