Leader Receives Indonesia President

Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on Wednesday received Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who was in Tehran to attend a meeting between the high-ranking delegations of the two sides earlier in the day. In the meeting of the delegations, Iranian and Indonesian officials discussed ways of fostering banking, energy and trade collaboration.

The meeting was chaired by President Hassan Rouhani and Widodo, according to the president's website. Speaking in the meeting, Rouhani said Tehran is willing to develop wide-ranging cooperation with Jakarta, describing Widodo's trip to Tehran as a "milestone" in bilateral relations.           

“Iran is ready to fulfill Indonesia’s various needs, including energy,” he said, stressing the need for mutual efforts to facilitate bilateral economic cooperation.

“Efforts to strengthen banking relations, setting preferential tariffs and [engaging in] direct trade can be very effective in achieving this end, which will benefit the two nations.”

The president said Iranian companies active in the fields of energy and engineering are highly capable and can offer their capacities to Indonesia.

Rouhani called for closer cultural and scientific cooperation, saying the two countries can make efforts to promote Muslim unity, help the Palestinian people restore their basic rights and enhance security in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other parts of the world.

Widodo stressed his country’s commitment to expand relations with Tehran, adding that Indonesia seeks to “develop a framework for broad banking relations with Iran”.

Expressing satisfaction with the performance of Iranian companies building refineries and power plants in Indonesia, the Indonesian president said, “Indonesia welcomes the stronger presence of Iranian firms active in such sectors as oil, gas and renewable energies”.

Widodo said Indonesia is keen on holding a meeting of the joint economic commission “within the next two months” to follow up on the implementation of previous cooperation agreements.

The Indonesian president also underlined the importance of interaction between the two countries to solve conflicts across the world, including those in Syria, Yemen and Myanmar, as well as the fight against extremism and terrorism.

“Jakarta always urges constructive dialogue for settling regional issues and we believe it is the only path toward sustainable peace,” he said. Earlier in the day and on the sidelines of a meeting between Rouhani and Widodo, Iranian and Indonesian officials signed four memoranda of understanding to boost mutual cooperation.

The documents covered electricity and renewable energy, trade, joint investment and judicial cooperation.

Speaking after the signing ceremony, Widodo said the two parties agreed to purchase over 500,000 tons of LPG from Iran.

Private sector companies of the two countries also signed eight cooperation documents on the same day.

Widodo arrived in Tehran for an official visit at the head a high-ranking politico-economic delegation on Tuesday, in response to Rouhani’s trip to Indonesia last year.