Press Statement H.E. Retno L.P. Marsudi Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Algiers, 20 December 2023
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
My Brother Minister Ahmed Attaf, Colleagues from the media,
First, I would like to thank my brother, Minister Attaf for extending a warm welcome to me and my delegation.
It is an honour for me to visit Algeria for the first time.
This year is an important year for our two countries as we mark the 60th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.
Algeria is a good friend of Indonesia. Our bonds have been forged by our founding fathers since the early years of our two countries.
And My visit here is also accompanied by a team from Pertamina, an oil and gas State Owned Enterprise from Indonesia.
Colleagues from the media,
I had a very good discussion with Minister Attaf on how we can strengthen our bilateral cooperation, in particular on the economic sector.
THREE important areas of cooperation were highlighted during the meeting.
First, on trade cooperation.
Algeria is among Indonesia’s top 5 trading partners in Africa. Our trade volume increases steadily by 15,77% annually.
However, our bilateral trade volume has not reflected its true potential.
To bolster our two-way trade and ensure a more sustainable and balanced trade, Indonesia proposed a Preferential Trade Agreement between the two countries, and I sought Minister Attaf’s support.
Second, on energy sector.
We are glad that we are able to sign the MoU on Energy and Mining Cooperation today.
This MoU will strengthen our G2G cooperation and promote B2B cooperation and investment in energy sector.
Indonesia is a good partner for Algeria on energy cooperation.
Indonesia’s State-Owned Enterprise, Pertamina, has been a reliable partner for Algeria on oil and gas industry.
Our commitment to investment remains.
Therefore, we welcomed another plan of investment from Pertamina of USD 900 million until 2048 in Algerian energy sector.
Pertamina is ready to continue expanding their investment in Algeria, including in new areas such as refinery and decarbonization.
We also hope to broaden our economic cooperation beyond the petroleum sector through various joint projects in electricity, mining, renewable energy, and Minister Attaf also mentioned about agriculture, fisheries, and other sectors.
Third, on bilateral mechanism.
We agreed to reactivate our bilateral mechanisms including the Ministerial Level Joint Commission meeting and the Senior-Official level bilateral consultation. Both of which will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia, in the first half of 2024.
These mechanisms are crucial in our efforts to take stock of progress and address challenges in our cooperation.
Colleagues,
Aside from bilateral issues, we also discussed regional and global issues.
On Palestine, we had a very open and deep discussion on the Palestine issue.
Indonesia and Algeria are aligned on condemning the continuing hostilities by Israel, demanding the urgently needed permanent ceasefire and sustainable humanitarian assistance.
We also agreed that addressing the core issue which is the illegal occupation of Israel in Palestinian Land is crucial to ensure lasting peace for the Palestinian people.
Minister Attaf and I shared the belief that Algeria and Indonesia could continue working together to defend justice and humanity for the Palestinian people.
I am fully confident that as an upcoming member of the UN Security Council, Algeria will spare no effort to bring the interest of the Palestinians.
Colleagues,
In the meeting, I welcomed Algeria’s interest in acceding to ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation. And Indonesia will support that interest.
Lastly, as two like-minded countries, we agreed to support each other in multilateral forums including our candidacy in international relations.
And we agreed that Indonesia and Algeria will continue to advocate the paradigm of collaboration and promote the interests of developing countries as well as Muslim countries.
So with that, once again my brother, thank you very much for receiving me. Thank you. Thank you very much.
