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ndonesia is strengthening its diplomatic relations with Italy following its top diplomat’s visit to Rome to meet with Italy foreign minister, business people and religious communities.

In a meeting with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi emphasized that the southern European country was an important economic partner and is the third largest trading partner for Indonesia in the European Union.

Based on Trade Ministry data, two-way trade between Indonesia and Italy was worth US$2.96 billion in 2016, a decrease from $3.2 billion in 2015 and $4 billion in 2014. In the tourism sector, in 2016 more than 70,000 Italians visited the archipelago and 2,614 Indonesians went to Italy.

During the meeting in Rome, Retno said she hoped the Italian government would treat Indonesian businesses fairly, particularly for palm oil exports, and underlined that it was important to prevent discrimination against the country’s palm oil business.

“[Nevertheless] I appreciate the Italian government is one of Indonesia’s largest importers of palm oil and supporters of our palm oil industry,” Retno said.

On April 4, the European Parliament issued a resolution to only import sustainable oil palm products after 2020. The resolution also called for a single sustainability standard, although Indonesia already has its own sustainable palm oil standard.

Retno said the Indonesian government paid serious attention to the palm oil business as it was considered part of the country’s economic backbone. More than 20 million Indonesians, she continued, depend on the industry for their bread and butter.

Prior to the meeting, Retno participated in a business dialogue held by Italy-ASEAN Association with more than 50 Italian businesspeople and think tanks. To the participants, she explained Indonesian business development and the current challenges for ASEAN countries.

Besides speaking about the economy, the foreign minister also discussed interfaith tolerance and how to strengthen cooperation in interfaith dialogue. In a visit to the Christian Community of Sant’Egidio, Retno met with the community’s president Marco Impagliazzo and its founder Andrea Riccardi.

Earlier this year, the Indonesian Embassy in Vatican City held an interfaith dialogue and seminar themed “Managing Religious Plurality in Indonesia during the Reform Era.” The event, which was held at the Sant’Egidio Community Hall in Rome, Italy, aimed to promote Indonesia’s values of diversity and its experiences fighting for pluralism.

Riccardi said that he considered Indonesia a laboratory of plurality that could live in a harmonious and democratic manner, saying that the country’s ideology of Pancasila played an important role in creating the peaceful conditions. Sant’Egidio, Retno said, was a long-time partner of Indonesia as the country’s largest Muslim community, Nadhlatul Ulama (NU), had been working together with the Christian community for many years.

“Interfaith dialogue is the key to bridge relationships between communities. This year we held an interfaith community dialogue with Myanmar for the first time to share knowledge on how to face plurality in the society,” she continued.