PANEL DISCUSSION – PUBLIC DEBATE SERBIA AND INDONESIA – YESTERDAY, TODAY, TOMORROW
On the occasion of fifty-five years since the establishment of diplomatic relations with Indonesia, and fifty years since the first Conference of Non-Aligned Movement held in Belgrade, the Association of Serbian-Indonesian Friendship NUSANTARA from Belgrade, in cooperation with the Centre for the teaching activities of “The Foundation of Ilija M. Kolarac” organized a panel discussion “Serbia – Indonesia – yesterday, today and tomorrow” which took place on November 9, 2011.
Among participants were Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia for multilateral diplomacy, H.E. Ambassador Vuk Zugic, the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia H.E. Mr Semuel Samson, Coordinator of International Cooperation in the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Mrs Milanka Stojakovic, Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy Dr Ljubodrag Dimic, journalist Slobodan Samardzija, editor in “Politika“ foreign policy editorial. The moderator was Dr Aleksandar Rakovic, the international relations advisor at the Ministry of Religion and Diaspora of the Republic of Serbia and member of NUSANTARA Association. The participants were welcomed by the Chairman of the Association, Mr Dragovan Bata Lukic.
Assistant to the Foreign Minister, Ambassador Vuk Zugic said that Serbia appreciated the attitude of Indonesia who did not recognize the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo. “Increasingly intense relations between two countries enable the development of the overall relations, particularly economic” and added that the positive experiences of Asian countries in the Serbian market should be reassuring for Indonesian investors. He said that Indonesia is one of the largest Serbian partners in Asia besides China and South Korea. “Our relations have entered a new, dynamic phase, which makes us all happy” said Zugic adding that preparations for the upcoming, third official visit of Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic to Indonesia are underway. Mr Zugic also noted that “Indonesia is one of the most important Asian partners of Serbia.”
Indonesian Ambassador H.E. Mr Semuel Samson said that people of Serbia and Indonesia are very similar and that the relations between two countries are based on the relations of mutual friendship. “In the political domain, Serbia and Indonesia have always been supportive too each other”; He welcomed Serbia’s accession to UNESCO Committee for the Protection of World Cultural Heritage, adding that this will help protect Serbian property in Kosovo and Metohija. The Ambassador suggested the establishing of the association of friendship between the two countries in Indonesia which would encourage further development of harmonious and friendly relations between the countries. In this year Serbia and Indonesia have signed a series of agreements on economic cooperation, education and military cooperation.
The Association believes that the topic of relations between Serbia and Indonesia is initiated in a very important moment, when the bilateral relations between our two countries develop successfully, and when there is a huge potential for their improvement. We believe that the conclusions and discussion at the panel will encourage institutions and corporations to improve their overall relations, especially in the economic field.
The panel was attended by the newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia in Indonesia, Jovan Jovanovic, Honorary Consul of the Philippines, Verica Milakovic, a representative of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco, Muhamed Harmus, and many guests and friends.
Company was offered significant support for the realization of the panel discussion by a co-founder of “Nusantara” Association, JP “Yugoimport” SDPR.
Many print and electronic media reported on the event, including “Politika”, “Blic”, „Privredni pregled“, „Ekonomist“ daily newspaper and “Tanjug” and “Beta” news agencies.
Some of the links: