Economic cooperation, women’s issue mainstreaming and the Palestinian issue at the UN Security Council became the focus of my talks with friendly countries on the second day (of the UNGA session)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi held seven bilateral talks with her foreign counterparts on the second day of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York Tuesday.

"Economic cooperation, women’s issue mainstreaming and the Palestinian issue at the UN Security Council became the focus of my talks with friendly countries on the second day (of the UNGA session)," she said in a written statement released Wednesday. The foreign counterparts were from Romania, Algeria, Solomon Islands, Guatemala, Estonia, and the Czech Republic, as well as the President of the UNGA.

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To enhance economic cooperation, Indonesia will always encourage the creation of bilateral trade instruments such as preferential trade agreement (PTA) and collaborate with the private sector and state-owned companies, Retno said.

"With Algeria, for instance, Indonesia proposed that the two countries should have the PTA. I also conveyed the wish of (the state construction company) WIKA and (the state oil and gas firm) Pertamina to expand business engagement in Algeria," she said.

The presence of Pertamina and WIKA in Algeria has been appreciated and set a concrete example of success abroad for the Indonesian state-owned company, she said.

Despite being at a considerable distance from Indonesia, the minister stressed the importance of Indonesia starting new initiatives to boost economic interaction between Indonesia and friendly countries in the Central and East Europe and South America and Caribbean countries during meetings with Guatemala and Czech foreign ministers.

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Translator: Yashinta Difa Pramudyani/Suhar
Editor: Sri Haryati
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