"In the Joint Commission and Political Consultation, Indonesia and Suriname will discuss cooperation in five fields, where the first item on the agenda is cooperation in the Suriname diplomat training program," Retno remarked after a bilateral meeting with her Suriname counterpart Niermala Badrising at Westin Hotel in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday.
She said the Foreign Affairs ministries of Indonesia and Suriname would cooperate closely in developing the curriculum for a diplomatic training center.
"The diplomatic training center in Suriname has just been established, and Indonesia is keen to share its experience with Suriname in terms of a diplomatic training program," Retno said.
She added that the second stage of cooperation is in the field of tourism, as Suriname would like to learn more from Indonesia about tourism development.
"The third stage is cooperation in the oil palm sector, because Suriname would like to invite Indonesian investors to invest in their oil palm plantations," Retno affirmed.
The Indonesian foreign affairs minister added that the fourth stage is cooperation in infrastructure, and the fifth is in flood prevention.
Meanwhile, Suriname Foreign Affairs Minister Niermala Badrising remarked that her country wanted to use Indonesian experts in the field of diplomacy.
"Indonesia has a better diplomatic development program, and therefore, we would like to cooperate to develop the diplomatic training center in Suriname," Badrising said.
According to her, Indonesia had seen great success in educating young, middle-aged, and senior diplomats.
In addition, Badrising noted that Suriname would like to use Indonesian experts to develop the tourism industry in her country, considering Bali as an example of tourism development in Indonesia.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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