The First RI-SVK Join Commission held in Jakarta, June 11-12, 2007

The meeting of the First Join Commission between Republic of Indonesia and Slovak Republic is held today, June 11, 2007 in Jakarta until June 12, 2007. This Join Commission is a historical moment since it is the first time to be held and conducted after Slovakia joined the European Union, on May 2004. Slovak Delegation is led by Mr. Peter Žiga, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic, while Indonesian Delegation is led by Mr. Ambassador Eddy S. Hariady, the Director General for American and European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia. The meeting of business people from both countries is to be held in complement with this Join Commission meeting

During today’s Join Commission, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is signed between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and the Ministry of Economy of the Slovak Republic on behalf of their respective Governments.

The signing of the MoU is mandated by the Economic Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the Slovak Republic which was signed in Jakarta, May 2006.

The meeting takes focus on the discussion on various areas of relations and cooperation that has been doing and will be done by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the Slovak Republic. It is expected that the Join Commission is not only done “on paper” but its results can also be implemented in reality to boost cooperation between the two countries in various fields.

Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and the Republic Federation of Czechoslovakia has already started since 1956. Indonesia recognised the independence and officially opened the bilateral relations with the Slovak Republic immediately after its establishment on January 1, 1993.

The bilateral relations between the two countries has been running very well and very positive without any political problems, with the trend shows the growing quality of relations. Both countries have the strong will to continuously develop mutual benefit cooperation in many areas.

In many consultative meetings between the Government of Indonesia and the Government of Slovakia, both sides reiterated their commitment for promoting the relations and economic cooperation of the two countries.

(source: Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia)