President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has had to run the gamut of global affairs on Wednesday as he welcomed 11 new foreign ambassadors to Indonesia and inaugurated five of the country’s own ambassadors-designate ahead of their departure.

Eight resident ambassadors and three nonresident ambassadors submitted their credential letters to the President in a ceremony at the Presidential Palace, marking the beginning of their diplomatic duties in Indonesia.

Strengthening economic cooperation was the main focus for envoys from European, African and Latin American countries, who took turns conveying their respective missions to Jokowi and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi in successive verandah talks.

The President welcomed four envoys from Latin America: Radamés Jesus Gomez Azuaje from Venezuela, Juan Camilo Valencia Gonzalez from Colombia, Abas Benz Kono from Suriname and Gustavo Ayares Ossandon from Chile.

Indonesia planned to hold a forum in October with countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the first such event as part of its efforts to bring together businesspeople from Latin America and Indonesia to discuss trade and investment-oriented partnership, she said.

“Latin America is also one of the potential markets Indonesia continues to work on,” Retno told journalists after the ceremony on Wednesday.

With the ambassadors from European Union member states, namely Gediminas Varvuolis from Lithuania, Jaroslav Chlebo from Slovakia and Jurij Rifelj from Slovenia, Jokowi discussed the ongoing talks on the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.

Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, raised concerns about EU plans to restrict imports of crude palm oil and its derivative products, Retno said.

“The President requested that Indonesia’s palm oil be treated fairly in the EU market,” Retno said.

During talks with foreign envoys from African countries — Carlos Antonio Moreno from Guinea-Bissau, Riadh Dridi from Tunisia and Felix Ngoma from Congo — Jokowi emphasized the importance to improve economic partnerships, particularly because the continent served as a major prospective market for Indonesia to explore, she said.

The Indonesian head of state and foreign ambassadors discussed the upcoming Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue to follow up on last year’s Indonesia-Africa Forum, which aimed at initiating closer economic relations with the continent.

With Dridi in particular, Jokowi spoke about the ongoing negotiation of a preferential trade agreement between Indonesia and Tunisia as well as a number of other issues, such as democracy and women empowerment, Retno said.

“Hopefully, we can conclude the negotiations this year,” Retno said.

Jokowi also welcomed the new Saudi Arabian ambassador to Indonesia, Esam A. Abid Althagafi, succeeding Usamah Muhammad Al Syuaiby, who had come under fire for a diplomatic gaffe involving a controversial tweet related to an Islamist rally in Jakarta late last year.

“Saudi Arabia is an important country for Indonesia, and [Althagafi] also said that Indonesia remained an important and strategic country for Saudi Arabia,” Retno said.

In a separate ceremony, Jokowi inaugurated five new ambassadors to represent Indonesia overseas. They are Adriana Supandy (Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands), Berlian Napitupulu (North Korea), Hasrul Azwar (Morocco and Mauritania), Kenssy Dwi Ekaningsih (Czech Republic) and Chandra Widya Yudha (Serbia and Montenegro).

Berlian said Retno had specifically tasked him with developing closer bilateral relations between Indonesia and North Korea. “We will explore opportunities to strengthen cooperation, including in education and sports,” he said.

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