France Lauds Indonesia's Presentation On Unga's Climate Change Mitigation Issues

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius has lauded the presentation given by Indonesia on climate change mitigation issues during the 70th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Indonesia addressed the Intended National Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on September 24.  

Fabius met Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York, the United States, on Saturday, according to a press release received here on Monday.

Minister Marsudi noted that Fabius praised Indonesia's INDC initiative.

"The INDC is a concrete contribution of Indonesia, as a non-Annex country, in mitigating climate change efforts," she affirmed.

Regarding the preparations for the 21th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-21) in November, Minister Fabius has invited state leaders of the participant countries to Paris on November 30.

Fabius stated that the French government had planned to hold some meetings prior to the COP-21 summit.

Apart from the COP-21 summit, the two ministers discussed about the visa waiver facility for short-term visits by Indonesian nationals to the Schengen countries and economic cooperation.

Minister Marsudi also addressed Indonesia's concerns over France's negative sentiment towards Indonesian Crude Palm Oil (CPO), which had not been viewed as an environment friendly product.

Speaking in connection with the issues, Fabius affirmed that France would support Indonesia during the visa facility discussion at the European Union (EU) Commission and agreed to work hand-in-hand with Indonesia to disseminate information on sustainable palm oil in Indonesia, including during the COP-21 summit.

In the manpower field, Minister Fabius offered opportunities for Indonesian nationals to work in France through an internship scheme for a certain period of time.

The internship scheme was proposed reciprocally, so that French nationals could also work as interns in Indonesia.

Indonesia and France have shared mutually beneficial bilateral relations since September 1950.

Currently, French direct investment in Indonesia has reached US$200 million, and bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$2.35 billion in 2014.

With regard to people-to-people relations, about 194,667 French nationals visited Indonesia in 2014, while the number of Indonesian tourists to France reached 6,049 in the same year. (WDY)