Antara
by Yashinta Difa
Indonesian deputy foreign minister AM Fachir (right) and his counterpart from Morroco Mounia Boucetta (left) shake hand after signing an MoU for bilateral cooperation at 2nd Indonesia-Morroco Joint Commission Meeting in Jakarta on Friday (26/10/2018). (ANTARA/Yashinta Difa)
Jakarta (ANTARA News) – Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister A. M. Fachir and his counterpart from Morocco Mounia Boucetta have signed five memoranda of understanding (MoU) during the 2nd Indonesia-Morocco Joint Commission Session in Jakarta on Friday.
Morocco is an important partner and Indonesia`s main trading partner in the North African region. Indonesia and Morocco encourage peace and stability in each region and the world.
“The Joint Commission Meeting is a mechanism to review the progress in relations between the two countries and discuss various efforts to resolve issues related to the interests of the two countries,” Deputy Foreign Minister Fachir noted here on Friday.
On the occasion, the two deputy ministers signed five MoUs on visa-free facilities for diplomats, energy, religious affairs, diplomatic studies, and prevention of drug trafficking.
For visa-free agreements for diplomatic passport holders, it has immediately functioned effectively, but four other MoUs require implementation mechanisms, monitoring mechanisms, as well as action plans.
“We agree that in the next three months, each ministry and institution will communicate to prepare and formulate an action plan to be implemented in 2019,” he stated.
In addition to the five MoUs, Indonesia and Morocco have encouraged economic cooperation by starting discussions on preferential trade agreements to increase trade volume between the two countries, which in 2017 was recorded at US$154.8 million.
In the industrial sector, the two countries agreed to explore Indonesia`s investment cooperation plan in the field of fertilizer production, as Morocco has enormous reserves of phosphate.
Morocco can support the fertilizer industry for Indonesian agriculture.
In the socio-religious field, Indonesia and Morocco promote moderate Islam and support student exchanges between the two countries.
In particular, the deputy minister urged the King of Morocco to visit Indonesia in an effort to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Moroccan Deputy Foreign Minister Boucetta stressed the need to maintain political dialog between the two foreign ministers, especially on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and other multilateral forums.
Boucetta also agreed to continue to monitor the implementation of all cooperation agreements that have been signed with Indonesia in an attempt to produce an action plan that can be implemented immediately.
Reporting by Yashinta Difa
Editing by Azis Kurmala
