Indonesian, French Foreign Ministers Discuss Energy Cooperation

TheIndonesia.co - Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said Indonesia and France has started discussion on bilateral cooperation on energy, and the details will be followed up and formulated in the coming period.

During her visit to Paris, Marsudi met France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian where the two talked about various international and bilateral issues, including energy cooperation.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, April 21, in regard to bilateral cooperation, the two ministers agreed to enhance cooperation on energy sector, and in order to do so, France planned to send a technical team to Jakarta to discuss details of the plan.

The meeting is a follow-up to a phone conversation between President Joko Widodo and President Emmanuel Macron as well as the two Foreign Ministers’ earlier discussion held last month.

A meeting between France, who chairs the European Union Council, and Indonesia, who holds the G20 presidency, is seen as necessary – and the two countries are committed to maintain close communication.

The current situation in Ukraine also became one of the focal points in the meeting, and Minister Marsudi reiterated that war must be stopped and peace must be restored through negotiations because the war impacts the world at large.

“If the war continues, then the economic impacts will be felt by all countries, especially the developing and least developed ones,” she warned.

Indonesia and France have started strategic partnership since 2011, and in October last year, the countries signed a cooperation action plan that will strengthen the partnership in politics, defense and security, economy, health, and energy sectors.