Mr. Kasit Piromya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, paid an Introductory Visit to the Republic of Indonesia during 10-11 February 2009. During the visit, Foreign Minister Kasit had a four-eye and a plenary meetings with Dr. N. Hassan Wirajuda, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, who hosted a luncheon in his honour, followed by a courtesy call on Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia. He also met with Mr. Freddy Numeri, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and Prof. Dr. H. Masykuri Abdillah M.H., Chairman of the Executive Council of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
Bilateral issues discussed during the visit included Thailand and Indonesia’s joint arts and cultural activities to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations in 2010 to enhance the awareness on cultural and historical linkages between peoples of the two countries. Foreign Minister Kasit stated the Royal Thai Government’s policy on the Southern Border Provinces (SBPs) which Indonesia was keen to offer its experiences in Aceh and Western Papua (Irian Jaya). Foreign Minister Kasit also expressed his views that both countries should work closer to boost tourism through joint tourist destinations and packages and to support for transportation linkages under IMT-GT framework, particularly to initiate low-cost airlines from Indonesia to Thailand.
On ASEAN, Foreign Minister Kasit said that Thailand is committed to working closely with Indonesia in pushing ASEAN towards promotion of democracy and human rights. Although Thailand is the current Chair of ASEAN, Indonesia has a leadership role in ASEAN since Indonesia is a co-founder of ASEAN. On Rohingya issue, both Foreign Ministers agreed to continue to work closely on information sharing. They shared the views that the problem could not be solved by one country but need cooperation from countries of origin, transit and destination, and therefore agreed that the Bali Process could be an appropriate forum to discuss the issue. The Bali Process will be convened soonest, possibly in March 2009. The issue may be further discussed at the side-line of the 14th ASEAN Summit in Thailand as well.
On fishery, Foreign Minister Kasit reaffirmed the Royal Thai Government’s policy to cooperate on fisheries with Indonesia in a responsible manner and to encourage Thai fishery industries to respect Indonesia’s rules and regulations. Foreign Minister Kasit proposed to send a name list of Thai fishing industries to the Indonesian side for conducting a Joint Venture on fishery. The Thai government will coordinate with the local fishing industries so that they respect Indonesian’s rules and regulations. Foreign Minister Kasit requested Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Indonesia to coordinate on business matching between Thai fishing industries and Indonesian companies. The Indonesian Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister expressed his willingness to work with Thailand and Thai fishery industries for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
At the meeting with the Chairman of Executive Council of NU, Foreign Minister Kasit expressed his appreciation to NU for offering scholarships to Thai students from SBPs to study in Indonesia. He informed that the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) will send a namelist of Thai students to NU as soon as possible. Foreign Minister Kasit also discussed about future cooperation such as exchange visits of religious lecturers and Ulama from NU to the SBPs, short-term students exchange, and Indonesia’s experiences in curriculum development in balancing between religious and secular subjects.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th