London (Antara Bali) - Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and Panamanian Vice President Isabel de Saint Malo de Alvarado have agreed to step up relations between the two countries in various fields.
"The two sides reached the agreement during the Ministerial Forum of East Asia and Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) in San Jose, Costa Rica, on Friday local time," Enjay Diana of the Eastern and Central European Affairs Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said here on Sunday.
The Indonesian foreign minister and the Panamanian Vice President identified areas of bilateral cooperation to increase both countries relations.
"Minister Retno LP Marsudi expressed optimism with increasing relations between the two countries," Diana said.
Areas of cooperation that could step up relations included bilateral consultation forum, facilitation of people-to-people contact with reciprocal visa on arrival facility and the establishment of mandatory consular notification.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi revealed that there were about five thousand Indonesian sailors registered in Panama.
Therefore, it is important to set up a mandatory consular notification between Indonesia and Panama. This is to provide protection for Indonesian sailors.
In the maritime sector, port cooperation, sailor certification and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing are also areas for increasing bilateral relations, according to the foreign minister.
Panamanian Vice President Isabel de Saint Malo hailed Retno's view on the importance of building connectivity in strengthening relations of both nations.
The Panamanian Vice President informed that Panhama will organize a High Level Panel on Connectivity in April 2016, expressing hope for Indonesian support for boosting connectivity of the two regions.
On the occasion, the Panamanian Vice President also offered to Indonesia the chance to take advantage of Panama as Indonesia's gate for its goods to Central and Southern American countries through the Panama Canal.
After all, Panama already has 50 FTA agreements with various countries.
Earlier, the governments of Indonesia and El Salvador also signed an agreement on free visa for holders of official and service passports to boost exchange of officials' visits and bilateral cooperation.
Minister Retno LP Marsudi and El Salvador's Foreign Minister Hugo Roger Martinez Bonilla signed the agreement on the sidelines of the Forum for East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) in San Jose, Costa Rica on Friday.
"This agreement will encourage mutual visits of officials of the two countries to increase investment and trade cooperation," Minister Retno was quoted as saying by Enjay Diana.
Diana told Antara on Saturday that Marsudi always gave top priority to Indonesian economic diplomacy at international forums, adding that Minister Bonilla had also expressed optimism about the future of the two countries' bilateral relations.
Indonesia and El Salvador established diplomatic relations in September 2011. Over the past two years, both countries have already signed two significant agreements boosting bilateral ties.
"I am confident that relations between the two countries will progress further in various fields going forward," Bonilla said.
In 2013, Indonesia and El Salvador signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a bilateral consultation forum. Both sides agreed to hold the first consultation meeting at the end of 2015, or in early 2016.
The consultation meeting is expected to include discussions on the implementation of bilateral cooperation in various sectors, focusing on growing economic relations, trade, communications, education, handling of transnational crime and natural disaster mitigation.
El Salvador is the third largest economy in Central America. It follows an open economic policy for foreign markets and uses the U.S. dollar as its official currency.
It is ranked 12th in Latin America and fourth in Central America on the Human Development Index.
Indonesia-El Salvador trade grew by 24 percent per annum during the 2010 to 2014 period.
In 2014, bilateral trade totaled US$12.25 million, down from US$65.7 million in 2013.
Indonesia's main exports to El Salvador include paper, manufactured goods, rubber, vehicles, chemical products, cotton, handicrafts, electronics goods, electrical appliances and toys. Its imports sugar, tobacco, gum and thread from the Central American nation. (WDY)
