"We will soon form parliamentary bilateral cooperation group expected to strengthen relations between the two countries," Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Pramono Anung said after a meeting with a Bahrain parliamentary delegation here on Thursday.
Pramomo said the Bahrain delegation also suggested expansion of cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and ASEAN.
He said GCC and ASEAN could expand cooperation as basically ASEAN has close relations emotionally with the Middle East.
"The form of cooperation could start with inter-parliamentary cooperation or through program of exchange of students between countries," he said.
He said the quality of education in Bahrain is good and competitive in the Middle East.
He said cooperation between parliaments of the two countries has long been developed through sessions of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and through Islamic Conference Organization (ICO).
"We have exchange views many times and held discussions to strengthen relations between the two countries," he said.
On the occasion, Pramono, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) raised the issue of Indonesian workers in the Middle East.
He asked the Bahrain parliament to provide protection for Indonesian workers in that country and hope that Bahrain could receive more workers from Indonesia.
"The number of Indonesian workers in Bahrain has increased sharply over the past years. There are around 300,000 Indonesian workers in that country," he said.
Meanwhile, the head of the Bahrain parliamentary delegation Abdulrahman Rashid Bumjaid said the delegation came to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in various aspects.
On the occasion, Abdulrahman extended an invitation to leaders of the Indonesian House of Representatives to visit Bahrain to discuss strategic issues in politics, economy and social affairs.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
