Fajarasia.co – Foreign Minister (Menlu) Retno Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Alsaud, at the Pancasila Building, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tuesday (7/6/2022) afternoon.
During the meeting, Foreign Minister Retno specifically expressed her appreciation to the government of Saudi Arabia, which has officially lifted the ban for its citizens to visit Indonesia.
“I convey my welcome and appreciation for the decision of the Saudi authorities to lift the travel ban for Saudi citizens visiting Indonesia,” said Retno Marsudi in a press statement after the bilateral meeting.
Retno explained that the Saudi Arabian government’s decision to lift the ban on visits to Indonesia was based on the current pandemic situation in Indonesia. “And convey to Prince Faisal that Indonesia has received appreciation from many parties, including from the United Nations, regarding the handling of Covid-19,” he added.
Previously, in mid-2021, Saudi Arabia banned its citizens from visiting Indonesia, referring to the high number of Covid-19 cases at that time.
The meeting was also used by the Indonesian Foreign Minister to appreciate the Saudi Arabian government’s policy of providing the largest quota of pilgrims for Hajj candidates for Indonesia, as many as 100,051 people. “This is the largest amount given to foreign pilgrims. I wish the Saudi government the best in carrying out the Hajj in 2022,” said the Indonesian Foreign Minister.
“Since there have been no pilgrimages for the past few years due to the pandemic, we hope this quota can be increased in the coming years,” said the Foreign Minister again.
On the same occasion, Prince Faisal said that Indonesia is one of the important partners in responding to global developments.
“Strong alignment uses the importance of ensuring the Kingdom plays a common role, both in the Muslim world worldwide. Including, working together to set the global agenda in a way that supports the interests of developing countries,” said Prince Faisal.
He also assessed Indonesia as a partner in strengthening the economy and supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. “There are many opportunities in this kind of partnership. The Kingdom is very committed to exploring all of these opportunities. We see that in fact in Indonesia there is a lot of potential (cooperation) in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 and the alignment of these two countries can provide tangible sustainable benefits for our two countries and our two people,” said Prince Faisal.
The bilateral meeting between the Indonesian Foreign Minister and the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister also discussed the regional and global situation.****
