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SARAJEVO, September 30 (FENA) - There has been progress in relations over the past three years, which is confirmed by growth of political-diplomatic contacts, but there has also been serious progress in mutual attempts to improve economic relations, Ambassador of BiH in the Republic of Indonesia Muhamed Čengić said in an interview with FENA, ahead of visit of the 25-member delegation of businessmen, representatives of trade, tourism and education to Indonesia within the Trade Expo Fair.
Interviewer: Bisera Džidić
Career diplomat, Ambassador Čengić is concluding his three-year mandate in Indonesia, assessing there has been serious progress in relations between the two countries.
“Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Indonesia and BiH were established in 1994. Embassy of BiH in Jakarta has been contributing to maintenance and strengthening of these relations for twenty years. Embassy of BiH in Jakarta is also non-resident representative office for the Republic of Singapore and DR Timor-Leste (East Timor), and as of this year it is accredited to cover ASEAN, with secretariat situated in Jakarta. When Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia was opened in Sarajevo in 2010, it opened new opportunities for better understanding and growth of the overall cooperation. It is because of that there has been great progress in relations over the past three years, which is also confirmed by growth of political-diplomatic contacts, but there has also been serious progress in economic cooperation,” said Ambassador Čengić.
Progress of economic relations between the two states was also confirmed at this-year’s Sarajevo Business Forum (SBF), where meetings were held on business opportunities between Indonesia and BiH, where representatives of numerous companies and tourism from both states discussed economic cooperation.
“Presence of Indonesia at the Sarajevo Business Forum is only a reflection of a new, higher stage in relations between the two countries. We should keep in mind that Indonesia has had the most representative delegation at this forum over the past three years. It started with attendance of special representative of the president of Indonesia in 2016 and continued with ministerial visits last year and this year. Minister of Economy and Minister of Physical Planning represented Vice President of Indonesia Jusuf Kalla in 2017 2018. Traditionally, Indonesia expects BiH companies to show interest for energy projects in this country. Energoinvest Company built power lines, dams and hydro power plants. Situation was similar in defense industry,” reminds Ambassador Čengić.
Asked to what extent such opportunities and potential have been used, he said that it is encouraging that representatives of Energoinvest visited Indonesia in 2016, established contact with local partners and that this communication continued. Indonesia invests dozens of billions of dollars in energy projects, because it has a strategic goal to secure production of new 35000 megawatts of electric energy in less than a decade.
“This distant country is a world leader in halal economy, which is confirmed by representatives of our halal certification agency, who visited Indonesia two years ago. Representatives of AS Group also visited Indonesia the same year and announced signing of Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries in area of agriculture. This document was initiated by Embassy of BiH in Jakarta and will most likely be signed by the end of the year,” said Ambassador Čengić.
He emphasized there have been numerous activities towards strengthening all forms of cooperation between the Republic of Indonesia and BiH as of mid-2015.
“Apart from participation of president’s special representative and highest ranked ministers of Indonesian Government at the Sarajevo Business Forum, visit of representatives of Energoinvest, AS Group, and Halal Certification Agency, first bilateral consultations of the two foreign ministries were held in Jakarta, cooperation memorandum was initiated in area of agriculture, which will most likely be signed during the visit of Minister Mirko Šarović in November and Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the two foreign trade chambers has been renewed,” said Ambassador Čengić.
He reminded that Indonesia supported medieval tombstones “stećak” to be added to the World Heritage List and the selection of BiH as a member of UNESCO World Heritage List and that in that same period BiH supported selection of Indonesia as a non-permanent member of UN SC (2019-2020) and member of the UNESCO Executive Committee (2017-2021).
At the same time, there is an increased interest in cooperation in area of higher education, as well as the Indonesian language and culture.
“Indonesia has over 2000 registered higher education institutions and majority of them are privately owned. The most famous public university is University of Indonesia in Jakarta. Embassy of BiH in Jakarta initiated cooperation between this university and Sarajevo University. Thanks to programs of the Indonesian Government and initiatives of Embassy of Indonesia in Sarajevo, there is also a growing interest in Indonesian language and culture. Academy of Performing Arts in Sarajevo has been working with similar institutions in Bandung for years, thanks to director Faruk Lončarević who came to Indonesia for the first time in 2014 to study the language. Martin Franjić, M.A. in graphic design from Vitez made around 40 drawings inspired by local tradition of Indonesia during his three-month stay there. He also received praise for his work from Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi. Embassy of BiH in Jakarta organized two lectures on “stećci” in Jakarta, supported translation of Mehmedalija Mak Dizdar’s poetry and two photo exhibitions of BiH authors,” said Ambassador Čengić.
Commenting on recent statement of Ambassador of Indonesia to BiH Amelie Achmad Yani that Indonesia has cooperation with 169 states regarding abolition of visas for tourist stay up to 30 days, including BiH, and that they expect the same for Indonesian tourists coming to BiH, Ambassador Čengić said that both states have equal interest in development of tourism.
“Visa-free regime for our tourists can be observed as Indonesia following the EU decision on visa benefits for our citizens. On the other hand, the EU maintains the visa regime with Indonesia. BiH can follow the EU policy and it can make a compromise and issue the same or similar decision on visa benefits for citizens of Indonesia like the Republic of Serbia. Making a compromise would definitely multiply number of Indonesian tourists in BiH and that decision would be very well-received in Jakarta,” assessed Ambassador Čengić in his interview with FENA.
Ambassador Muhamed Čengić has been appointed Ambassador of BiH in India, and a non-resident ambassador for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
(FENA) A. B.
