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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted letters of credence on Wednesday from 10 new foreign ambassadors at a ceremony at Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta.

“On behalf of the Indonesian people and the Indonesian government, I would like to congratulate you on your appointments as the ambassadors of your respective countries,” Yudhoyono said.

“I am hoping under your tenures that we can further strengthen our bilateral relationships,” the President said during a welcome meeting after the ceremony.

“Our relationships have been good. I hope we can further enhance them in the years to come by finding new opportunities,” the President added.

Seven of the 10 new envoys will be based in Jakarta: Georg Witschel of Germany, Bahaa El Deen Bahgat Ibrahim Dessouki of Egypt, Mohammed bin Khater Ibrahim Al-Khater of Qatar, Manuel Antonio Saturno Escala of Panama, Askhat Orazbay of Kazakhstan, Ahmed Al Musally Al A’awady of the United Arab Emirates and Filip Cumps of Belgium.

Three other envoys will represent their nations to Indonesia through embassies in third countries: Jerome Kloh Weya of Côte d’Ivoire, who will be based in Tokyo, Japan; Molosiwa Selepeng of Botswana, who will be based in Canberra, Australia; and Fidelino Loy de Jesus Figuereido of Angola, who will be based in Singapore.

Some of the envoys have already been active. Witschel attended the Day of German Unity in Jakarta two weeks ago, to commemorate the reunification of East and West Germany on Oct. 3, 1990, following the fall of Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989.

The event was also utilized to mark 60th anniversary of bilateral ties between Indonesia and Germany.

— JP/Bagus BT Saragih