Sweden Lauds Indonesia's Development

London, United Kingdom (Antara Bali) - The Swedish government has responded positively to its Indonesian counterpart's invitation to intensively develop ecotourism, the creative industry, education, and research and technology after acknowledging its progress.

The statement was made by Head of the Swedish Delegation Ambassador Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin in the presence of Indonesian Ambassador Muhammad Anshor after attending a meeting of the Bilateral Communication Forum along with the Swedish Senior Official Meeting Head in Stockholm, Sweden, last weekend.

First Secretary of Economic Affairs of the Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm Rahmawati Wulandari informed Antara London that the Indonesia-Sweden Bilateral Forum is one of the bilateral mechanisms that had been initiated since 2008 and had held meetings on a regular basis.

Ambassador Anshor, who is also the director-general for American and European affairs of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, noted that the forum offers an important momentum to improve bilateral ties and to monitor the follow ups after the Swedish King's official visit to Indonesia last May.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Cecilia Ruthström-Ruin stated that a transparent and democratic Indonesia will develop innovations and research and technology at a faster pace. Through partnership with Sweden, Indonesia will become a successful emerging country.

Indonesia has already expressed its interest to forge bilateral partnerships for improving its creative economy and boosting Sweden's tourism, especially ecotourism, internationally, which was positively welcomed.

"We will also help Indonesia to fight the black campaign against the use of its crude palm oil. This is because there is no harm in using the oil," the ambassador noted.

In a bid to support Indonesia's election in the UN Security Council for the 2019-2020 period, Sweden has agreed to hold a joint agenda on forces for peacekeeping operations. The matter being highlighted is the distinct features between the two countries that serve as an example of a successful peacekeeping mission.

Sweden also lauded Indonesia's views on Papua's separatists that have helped it gain support to fight them. The country is also keen to increase its involvement in the management of waste in Indonesia.

Anshor said that for various global issues, both countries have agreed to hold joint activities to fight racism and hate speeches and to cooperate in fighting violence against children and various international gender issues.

Both sides also held discussions on regional cooperation, such as the European Union and the ASEAN. They agreed on the importance of holding the Asia-Europe Meeting to increase connectivity between the two continents.(WDY)