Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The governments of Indonesia and New Zealand held a meeting of the 8th Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) to discuss efforts to intensify cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

The 8th Indonesia-New Zealand JMC meeting, led jointly by Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Winston Peters, was held at the Pancasila Building, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia in Jakarta, on Friday.

"It is an honor for me and New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters to lead this 8th JMC," Foreign Minister Marsudi stated.

The 7th Indonesia-New Zealand JMC Meeting was held in 2015 in New Zealand.

"New Zealand is a friend of Indonesia in the Pacific. Indonesia lauds New Zealand`s consistent stance in supporting the sovereignty and integrity of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI)," Marsudi noted.

According to the Indonesian foreign minister, this year holds significance for Indonesia and New Zealand, as it marks six decades of their diplomatic relations.

"This year is important in the diplomatic relations between Indonesia and New Zealand. This year, we commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries," she remarked.

In 2018, the two countries also upgraded bilateral ties to the level of comprehensive partnership. Hence, at the 8th JMC meeting, the two foreign ministers agreed to formulate an action plan for the implementation of the comprehensive partnership.

During the meeting, Marsudi and Peters also discussed economic cooperation, in which the two foreign ministers agreed to continue to improve economic cooperation between both nations, especially in the trade sector.

Both countries have set a trade target of US$6.25 billion in 2024.

The value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and New Zealand increased by 15 percent to $1.18 billion in 2017. The increase in the value of bilateral trade, amounting to 10.6 percent and reaching $760 million, also occurred in the first half of 2018.

Furthermore, the two foreign ministers discussed several regional and world issues of mutual interest to the two countries, including development of the Indo-Pacific cooperation concept and cooperation in the South Pacific.

Reporting by Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editing by Otniel Tamindael

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Yosep Hariyadi
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