Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has met with Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena, in Nagoya, Japan, Thursday (26/05), ahead of the Group of Seven (G7) outreach meeting in Ise-Shima National Park in Mie Prefecture.
Jokowi congratulated the success of Sri Lanka’s election in 2015, which selected a new president and prime minister, as well as the constitution’s amendment, before focusing on economic and Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) partnerships.
Indonesia has partnered with Sri Lanka in the procurement of train carriages, where Jokowi said he is prepared to discuss the scheme of payment through the export-import bank.
Meanwhile, President Sirisena conveyed the importance of Indonesia’s chairmanship in IORA to initiate the discussion of an agreement concept, dubbed as the IORA Concord, to maintain stability and peace in the Indian Ocean.
Sirisena also called for Indonesian state-owned airline, Garuda, to open its flights to Colombo.
Foreign Ministry Retno Marsudi in a statement said Indonesia and Sri Lanka’s bilateral relation has been solid for decades.
“If we saw the history, both countries were among the initiators of Asia-Africa Conference (AAC),” she said, adding that the increasing economic partnerships between the two will become both country’s assets.
- Jakarta Globe