TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Eight foreign ambassadors submit letters of credentials to Jokowi
Change Size
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (left), flanked by Foreign Minister Retno LP. Marsudi, chats with US Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan Jr after receiving the latter's letter of credentials at the State Palace on Jan. 12. (Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo received on Thursday letters of credentials from eight new foreign ambassadors at the State Palace in Jakarta to mark the start of their official duties in Indonesia.
Five of the eight diplomats are resident ambassadors, namely French Ambassador Jean-Charles Berthonnet, Moroccan Ambassador Ouadia Benabdellah, Portuguese Ambassador Rui Fernando Sucena, United States Ambassador Joseph R. Donovan and Bangladesh Ambassador Maj Gen Azmal Kabir.
Meanwhile, the three others are non-resident resident diplomats, namely Mauritian Ambassador Issop Patel, Rwandan Ambassador Guillaume Kavaruganda and Republic of the Marshall Islands Ambassador Thomas D. Kijiner.
Right after the submissions, President Jokowi invited each of them for talks to discuss bilateral issues.
Jokowi held separate talks that last around three minutes with each ambassador, in which most of them expressed their willingness to increase economic cooperation with Indonesia, a country which they considered had managed to maintain good economic growth in 2016.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said the eight ambassadors also appreciated Indonesia’s roles at the regional and international levels, specifically citing Indonesia’s active role in pushing for Myanmar to find a solution to the escalation of violence in Rakhine state.
“For example, Bangladesh, which has a population of around 170 million, wants to improve economic cooperation with Indonesia after seeing that Indonesia managed to maintain relatively high economic growth, above the world average,” Retno said. (dmr)
