The friendship between the two nations has a rich history. It is based on the common values of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which we have been building together since the first conference of the movement in Belgrade in 1961, under the leadership of then-president of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito, with the support of Indonesian leader Sukarno.

Our two countries have since nurtured a friendship and partnership which has always been based on mutual trust and understanding.

The recently renewed tradition of exchanging visits at the highest levels has provided additional impetus to the further development of our ties. We are particularly proud that this year two important visits to the Republic of Serbia from our Indonesian counterparts were realized

In July, we had the opportunity to welcome Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto. We are also very pleased that in August of this year, Indonesian House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani graced this significant anniversary of our bilateral relations with her visit to Belgrade, recognizing the exceptional potential to further strengthen cooperation between our countries.

Furthermore, on Oct. 20, Prime Minister Miloš Vučević visited Jakarta for the inauguration of President Prabowo. We deeply believe his visit will further contribute to strengthening ties and enhancing cooperation between our two countries.

The fact that Indonesia and Serbia provide each other with unwavering support on issues of vital national importance has special value in our modern relations. Serbia deeply respects the principled position and support of Indonesia on the issue of Kosovo and Metohija.

Indonesia’s persistent support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Serbia, and respect for the fundamental principles of international law and the United Nations Charter have strongly convinced us that it will continue to help us reach a sustainable and mutually acceptable solution for our southern province through dialogue.

Indonesia is not only a reliable and highly important partner of Serbia in Southeast Asia, but also an increasingly significant actor on the global political scene. It is a member of the Group of 20, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and ASEAN, through which Serbia seeks to further promote and intensify cooperation, bearing in mind that it maintains traditionally friendly relations with all members of this group.

Serbia also recognizes that ASEAN presents special opportunities for the development of economic cooperation. This is illustrated by Serbia joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) in Southeast Asia in September 2023 at the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, where Indonesia's support played an important role.

The TAC promotes the goals of lasting peace, mutual respect for independence, equality, sovereignty and territorial integrity and national identity for all peoples. These are the same goals by which Serbia is guided as it pursues its foreign policy. ASEAN member states have unanimously agreed that relations with the Republic of Serbia should be built precisely on those foundations.

We proudly point out that Indonesia was the largest trading partner of Serbia in the Southeast Asian region in 2023, with the total trade in goods with Indonesia amounting to US$251.2 million. This accounted for 27.4 percent of Serbia’s trade with ASEAN countries, which totaled $916.3 million.

We are very pleased that renowned Indonesian companies such as Indofood in Indjija and Bawazir Group in Kovin recognize the advantages of investing in our market. We hope their presence will pave the way for other prestigious Indonesian companies and contribute not only to the strengthening of the Serbian economy, but also to the further deepening of Serbian-Indonesian economic ties, to which we are ready to give our full support.

We are also very interested in intensifying agricultural cooperation. A significant step in that direction will be the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in this area. There is great interest from Serbian apple producers and exporters in the Indonesian market, and the competent authorities of our two countries are already intensively communicating about export requirements.

There is also great potential in bilateral tourism. Indonesia's tourist offerings are among the most attractive and well-known in the world, and an increasing number of Serbian tourists interested in traveling to exotic destinations proves Indonesia's potential.

Conversely, we want to attract as many Indonesian tourists and entrepreneurs to Serbia as possible. We therefore believe it is extremely important to sign the Air Traffic Agreement between our two governments as soon as possible.

We are particularly proud of the bilateral interfaith dialogue mechanism which exists between Serbia and Indonesia, which represents an invaluable aspect of our overall bilateral cooperation and is the only dialogue of this kind that Serbia maintains with any country in the world. So far, four meetings supporting this mechanism have been held, and we expect the fifth meeting to be held soon.

As the proud hosts of the Specialized Exhibition EXPO 2027, we endeavor to extend our partnership and cooperation to this new area as well. Serbia attaches great importance to organizing this event, and we are convinced that it will contribute to the further economic development of not only our country, but the entire region.

We hope that Indonesia will participate in EXPO 2027, which will further strengthen economic and trade cooperation between our two countries.

We hold a firm belief that the coming years present Serbia and Indonesia with vast and exceptional opportunities to develop our cooperation in a large number of areas. With this firmly in mind, we are determined to provide new incentives in the future so that the overall relations between our two countries continue to grow exponentially, that the meetings between our officials become even more frequent and that cooperation in economic and other specific areas continues to be intensified and enriched with new content.

I would like to thank those who have contributed to this friendship over the past seven decades, as well as the Indonesian people for their sincerity, support and respect. I am convinced that the generations to come will continue to nurture the exceptional ties between our two countries, building a future in which Serbia and Indonesia will continue to be reliable partners, both bilaterally and globally.

Long live the friendship between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Indonesia.

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The writer is President of the Republic of Serbia.