Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) held a detailed discussion on batik with Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who is on a state visit, at the Merdeka Palace on Thursday.

"With the queen of Denmark, we spoke at length about batik as she is fond of batik paintings," President Jokowi noted in the company of First Lady Iriana after receiving Queen Margrethe II and her entourage.

The head of state reiterated that the queen of Denmark admired batik and was keen to know the amount of time required to create this Indonesian cultural heritage.

"I explained to the queen that it took six months to make a batik painting using the diagonal stripes motif, while it took about four months for a batik painting made by using a combination of diagonal stripes and other motifs," Jokowi affirmed.

During the meeting between President Jokowi and Queen Margrethe II, four memoranda of understanding (MoUs) were inked between the two governments.

The MoUs cover cooperation in the fields of transportation, energy, culture, and maritime.

However, the president remarked that cooperation with Denmark will be discussed more concretely by the relevant ministers from both countries.

In the meantime, Queen Margrethe II noted that her first official visit with the prince consort, minister, businessmen, and investors to Indonesia aims to establish mutual understanding and strengthen ties between the two countries.

Queen Margrethe II is the daughter of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid. King Frederik IX passed away in 1972 while Queen Ingrid in 2000.

Denmark is a country following a liberal democracy as the political system is based on a constitution that was enacted in 1953.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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