VP Kalla Meets Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace

London (Antara Bali) - Vice President M. Jusuf Kalla visited the Buckingham Palace here on Thursday for an afternoon tea meeting with Prince Andrew.

Kalla arrived at the palace at 4 p.m. local time flanked by Indonesian Ambassador to Britain T. M. Hamzah Thayeb, his secretary Mohamad Oemar, and Deputy for Economic Affairs Tirta Hidayat.

"Prince Andrew leads Britains investment promotions abroad. I met him before when he visited Jakarta last year. He and I will discuss joint efforts that will be good for both Indonesia and Britain," he said at the Indonesian Embassy.

He added that Britain wished to retain its position as a country with good economic power in the European region.

"Britain wishes to retain its position as one of the strongest economies in Europe. The economies of Britain and Germany have, so far, been growing well. Their growth is still good, and they always want to have investments abroad," Kalla noted.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla is in Britain especially to attend the Federation of Cacao Commerce conference.

With regard to his presence at the conference, he stated that his mission was to boost cacao development in Indonesia so it could expand to reach the European market.

"Cacao is the third-largest agricultural export after palm oil and rubber. The prices of all commodities dropped recently, except that of cacao," he pointed out.

Furthermore, Kalla opined that Indonesia has great potential in this field as not many countries in the world can develop cacao plantations.

"Cacao only grows well in countries with tropical climate. So as the worlds third-largest cacao producer, we have great potential," he affirmed. (WDY)