Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi (right) shakes hands with her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono at the 6th Indonesia-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Jakarta on June 25. (Photo: Antara/Sigid Kurniawan) Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Japanese counterpart Taro Kono agreed to strengthen bilateral cooperation in political security, economy, trade and investment at the sixth Indonesia-Japan Strategic Dialogue in Jakarta on June 25.
Indonesia and Japan are strategic partners and two important countries in the region, Retno said in a joint press statement after the meeting, adding that their partnership contributes not only to the prosperity of the two peoples but also to regional peace, stability and prosperity.
They agreed to speed up the implementation of the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement with the target to conclude it this year.
The two sides will work towards making Indonesia as a production base for Japanese manufacturing products for the third market, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
On infrastructure development, both FMs agreed on the need to accelerate Japanese project investment in Indonesia such as mass rapid transit (MRT), Patimban port in West Java, and railway from Jakarta to Surabaya.
Regarding maritime cooperation, they agreed to strengthen cooperation, particularly in capacity building for infrastructure development, fisheries and navigation safety.
As regards the security matter, Japan ensured the supported activities to counter violent extremism and terrorism, including providing a biometric security system in Gelora Bung Karno stadium for the Asian Games 2018.
The diplomats noted the growing economic partnership between Indonesia and Japan in recent years with two-way trade reaching 33.03 billion USD in 2017.
Japan was the second biggest investor and trade partner of Indonesia in 2017 with total investment of 5 billion USD.-VNA
VNA
