For Turkey, Indonesia is one of its first partners in the Asia-Pacific region to establish the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSC) mechanism.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi echoed Indonesia's commitment to building stronger cooperation with Turkey and to contributing to global peace and prosperity.

On Wednesday, Marsudi held a bilateral meeting with her Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara on Wednesday.

"On top of the exchange of visits, both of us also have very intensive communications. That shows the strong relations between our two countries," the minister noted in a press statement conveyed by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday.

The strong relations between the two countries is marked by Fidan's visit to Jakarta in July last year, which Marsudi responded to with a return visit to Ankara.

Despite expressing satisfaction with the current state of relations between Indonesia and Turkey, Marsudi believes several areas of cooperation could still be strengthened.

She stated that both nations are committed to expediting the finalization of the Indonesia-Turkey Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and welcome the plan to convene the 5th round of negotiations of CEPA this year.

"We do believe that the finalization of CEPA will be a game changer and increase our bilateral trade and investment," she stated.

Regarding defense cooperation, the two ministers agreed to hold a 2+2 meeting and welcome the ongoing military and defense dialog.

Marsudi and Fidan also welcomed strategic cooperation on the development of the defense industry, among others, for joint production of medium weight tanks (MWT), and are committed to working together for the marketing aspect.

The two countries are committed to continuing cooperation in the eradication of transnational crime through the signing of the Security Cooperation Agreement as a basis for cooperation and hope the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on terrorism and transitional crime eradication would be completed soon.

"Both countries are also fostering strategic collaboration on development cooperation. Both of us are emerging economies. Together, we can offer capacity building and joint projects for countries of the global south," she stated.

For Turkey, Indonesia is one of its first partners in the Asia-Pacific region to establish the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSC) mechanism.

The HLSC was announced by Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali in 2022.

At Wednesday's meeting, the two ministers also discussed preparations for the first meeting of the HLSC to be held in early 2025, especially on the potential concrete deliverables.

"We tasked our officials with further identifying and accelerating the conclusion of potential agreements and deliverables for a successful convening of the first Indonesia-Turkey HLSC," Marsudi remarked.

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Translator: Yashinta Difa, Raka Adji
Editor: Arie Novarina
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