P

resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo on Friday begun his 5-day state visits to three Middle East countries, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, to boost Indonesia'€™s ties with the three countries, particularly on investment, trade and Indonesian migrant worker protection.

Saudi Arabia is Indonesia'€™s largest trading partner in the Middle East region, the UAE is the main destination of Indonesian exports to the Middle East and Qatar is the Middle Eastern country with the biggest investment in Indonesia, which includes portfolio investment.

'€œAs an important economic cooperation partner in the region, particularly on trade and investment, we [Indonesia] expect the visit will be able to open up greater market access for Indonesian products in the Middle East market,'€ Jokowi told a press conference at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport before he took off.

'€œAnd we also expect this visit to encourage investment, to bring in direct investment in infrastructure and financial sectors, as well as income in terms of portfolio investment from the three countries,'€ he added.

Bilateral trade volume between Jakarta and Riyadh reached US$8.6 billion last year, while Saudi'€™s investment reached $29.3 million during this year'€™s first semester.

Two-way trade between Indonesia and UAE reached $4.25 billion and UAE'€™s invested $25.365 million in Indonesia.

While last year'€™s trade between Doha and Jakarta reached $1.68 billion.

Other than his plan to hold separate bilateral meetings with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan and Qatar'€™s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Jokowi is also scheduled to hold talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) secretary general during his stay in Saudia Arabia '€” in a move aimed to improve strategic cooperation between Indonesia and the gulf countries.

'€œCooperation with the gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar, will be enhanced through strategic cooperation with the GCC,'€ Jokowi said.

The President will also use the visit to push the three countries to give better protection for the more than 1.4 million Indonesian migrant workers in the Middle East.

'€œProtection for Indonesian migrant workers will also be the focus of this visit. The government will push the three countries to keep providing protection and attention to Indonesians and Indonesian migrant workers,'€ Jokowi said.

Indonesia is also expected to sign a number of memorandums of understanding with the three countries, including one related to visa exemption for diplomatic passport holders with Qatar, an agreement on human trafficking with UAE and one related to a plan to form strategic cooperation with the GCC.

During the trip, Jokowi brought along a number of ministers and officials, including Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong, Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Franky Sibarani and special envoy to the Middle East Alwi Shihab.

Separately, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir told The Jakarta Post that President Jokowi would be aiming to expand the country'€™s economic partnerships in the region by marketing Indonesian halal products to the Middle East.

'€œ[Countries in] the region are considered important economic partners for Indonesia, so this state visit is expected to open up the Middle Eastern market even more to Indonesian commodities, including halal products,'€ Arrmanatha said in a statement on Friday.

The Presidential delegation also looked to snag new investors from the Gulf region to invest their capital in Indonesia, with particular focus on infrastructure, maritime and energy sectors, he added.