Palestinian PM Shtayyeh Pays State Visit to Indonesia

BOGOR, KOMPAS.com - President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo received a state visit from Palestinian Prime Minister (PM) Mohammad IM Shtayyeh at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, near Jakarta on Monday, Oct. 24.

PM Shtayyeh, along with a limited delegation, arrived at the Bogor Palace at around 10:30 local time accompanied by Nusantara troops, cavalry, and the musical corps of the Presidential Security Forces.

After being greeted by President Jokowi, the welcoming procession continued with an official welcoming ceremony with the sounding of the national anthems of the two countries and accompanied by the sound of cannons 19 times. After the cannon blast, the two leaders inspected the troops of honor.

Jokowi and Shtayyeh introduced each of the delegates, who attended the ceremony.

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The delegation from Indonesia comprised Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan, Head of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Penny K. Lukito, and Director General of Asia Pacific and Africa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdul Qadir Jaelani.

Jokowi then urged Shtayyeh to take a group photo and sign the state guest book at the Lotus Room, Bogor Palace.

The series of events continued with the joint planting of Meranti Bunga or Shorea leprosula trees by Jokowi and Shtayyeh in the courtyard next to the Bogor Presidential Palace. After planting trees together, the two leaders of the countries headed to the veranda for a brief conversation before holding a bilateral meeting with their respective delegations.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and gave a joint press statement in the Lotus Room. The series of official welcomes ended with a state lunch at the Garuda Room.

Jokowi affirmed that the Indonesian government would continue to support Palestine to become an independent state, provide economic and humanitarian assistance.

"In addition to humanitarian assistance, Indonesia provides capacity-building assistance to prepare for Palestine's independence," Jokowi said during a joint press conference with his Palestinian counterpart.

In the economic cooperation, Jokowi said that trade between both nations continued to increase from January to July 2022, with a growth of 21.28 percent recorded as compared to the corresponding period in 2021.

"Indonesia has provided unilateral facilities in the form of exemption from import duties for dates and olives from Palestine to Indonesia. The facilities will be applied for other products from Palestine," he said.

The president noted that the facilities were a form of support from Indonesia to Palestine while expressing optimism that the economic cooperation would continue to be improved in the future.

"Assistance to Palestine does not only come from the government but also civil society. Currently, the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is in the process of building an Indonesian hospital in Hebron, Palestine," the head of state said.