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RI keeps Pacific in good graces ahead of UN meeting
The minister’s two-nation Pacific trip was timed perfectly before she attends the United Nations General Assembly, and coincides with preparations for the next cycle of Indonesia’s Universal Periodic Review in November.
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Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi (left) speaks to Fijian President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere during her courtesy call at the State House in Suva, Fiji, on Sept. 6. (Courtesy of Foreign Ministry/-)
F
oreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has concluded a brief trip to the South Pacific this week, where she reaffirmed Indonesia’s commitment to the region through bilateral initiatives and a more “holistic” Indo-Pacific strategy ahead of a whirlwind of United Nations meetings later this month.
After a two-year hiatus of diplomatic visits to the region, the minister headed to Fiji and the Solomon Islands where she sought to forge closer ties with Pacific island nations ahead of a forum Jakarta is hosting later this year. Indonesia is expected to host the Indo-Pacific Forum for Development in Bali this December, after it hands over the presidency of the Group of 20 largest economies to India.
In a prerecorded statement circulated on Wednesday, Retno reported the highlights of her visit, which was “tremendously important and strategic” for advancing Indonesia’s “priority agenda” in the region.
At the State House in Fiji’s capital Suva on Tuesday, the minister met with President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to pursue efforts to establish the Indonesia-Fiji Preferential Trade Agreement (IF-PTA) to maintain the upward trend in two-way trade.
The deal has been in the pipeline since at least 2019, and is hoped to serve as a guideline for expanding cooperation in trade and investment, infrastructure and connectivity.
“According to the latest data, bilateral trade from January through June of 2022 has increased by 44 percent compared with the previous year – valued at US$20.7 million,” the minister said.
Also in the pipeline was the creation of an agricultural training center in the Fijian district of Rakiraki, which she described as “Indonesia’s outreach hub for development cooperation”.
