The free and active foreign policy is not a figment. For instance, where this vaccine is concerned, we have held talks with the United States, Britain, China, and so on. I don't see any problem. We are so comfortable to move everywhere.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia's free and active foreign policy has made it easy for the country to negotiate with other countries on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Indonesia has been able to freely conduct diplomacy for the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, while several large countries are competing with one another for developing the vaccine, chief of the COVID-19 Task Force at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Daniel Tumpal, said during a discussion here on Wednesday.

“The free and active foreign policy is not a figment. For instance, where this vaccine is concerned, we have held talks with the United States, Britain, China, and so on. I don't see any problem. We are so comfortable to move everywhere,” he added.

Indonesia secured the supply of COVID-19 vaccines from China and the United Arab Emirates after Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir paid visits to the countries in the middle of this year.

The procurement of COVID-19 vaccines has been one of the three refocusing points of the work priorities of the Foreign Ministry and Indonesian foreign representatives amid the pandemic, particularly to help the government mitigate the outbreak through health diplomacy, Tumpal said.

"In the short and the long run, the three issues - diagnostic, therapeutic, and vaccine - will mark our diplomacy in the health field," he remarked.

Boosting diagnostic ability, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR testing) or rapid testing, has been among the initial steps taken by the country to address the pandemic. In this regard, the ministry has facilitated 120 international support agreements, worth US$135.28 million, as of November 17, 2020.

"Looking ahead, in the long run, (in conducting health diplomacy) we will target the issue of raw materials for the production of medicines," Tupal said.

Indonesia has established cooperation with a number of countries, including China, South Korea, the UK, and the UAE for developing and distributing COVID-19 vaccines.

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Translator: Suwanti/Suharto
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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