Speaking at a meeting with Indonesian House Speaker Marzuki Alie on the sidelines of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) conference here on Thursday, Iraq`s House Speaker Humam Baqer Abdulmaged Hammoodi said Iraq noted two remarkable things in the bilateral relations between the two countries.
The first thing , he said, was the visit of Indonesia`s parliamentary delegation to Iraq in May 2011 which had been quite meaningful to the Iraqi people.
The second thing was the reopening of the Indonesian embassy in Baghdad.
"The Iraqi government and people very much appreciated these efforts by the Indonesian government," he said.
Hammoodi said Indonesia was a big country with good economic growth. In the midst of the current global economic crisis Indonesia was considered to be advanced in the fields of economy, trade, political and democracy development.
He hoped the bilateral relations between the two countries could further develop not only between states and governments but also between the peoples of the two countries.
Hammoodi said with regard to rebuilding, Iraq was open to development of economic, trade and service relations. Therefore, he hoped the Indonesian house speaker would help promote Iraq among the Indonesian business community.
He also hoped Indonesia could also help and support Iraq in its relations with the UN while Iraq would help protect Indonesian migrant workers.
Regarding the meeting of the Parliamentary Union of OIC member states (PUIC) scheduled in Palembang, Indonesia, in 2012 the Iraqi delegation promised it would come and participate in it.
Hammoodi said in the next few months Iraq`s president and prime minister would conduct a state visit to Indonesia.
Marzuki in the meeting said Indonesia could understand the situation faced by Iraq and hoped Iraq could immediately exit from the difficult situation.
He said cooperation between the two countries need to be increased in view of the two countries` potentials including Iraq`s oil richness which could help meet Indonesia`s oil needs.
With regard to various internal problems Marzuki said PUIC members had better prioritize settlement of problems among Muslim countries so that they could be more focused in finding the solutions.
In view of that PUIC should improve its role and activity`s from time to time, he said.
In response to a question from the Iraqi delegation over regulatory and technical constraints in the development of economic and trade relations between the two countries Marzuki said he hoped the Indonesian ambassador to Iraq could help overcome the difficulties and obstacles.
(Uu.H-YH/HAJM/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
