Indonesia, Fiji discuss agriculture, marine cooperation

BALI, Dec 6, 2019, ANTARA. Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and her Fiji counterpart, Inia Batikoto Seruiratu, discuss cooperation in agriculture and marine sectors during a meeting on the sidelines of the 12th Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) in Nusa Dua, Bali, Thursday, ANTARA reported.

“(During the meeting) I talked about the effort to develop cooperation with Fiji, considering that he is a former agriculture minister. I also discussed about development of seaweed cultivation,” Marsudi told journalist regarding her meeting with Seruiratu.

Concrete cooperation in the marine sector will be carried out by the two countries by establishing a seaweed center.

“The issue will be followed up next year with the joint ministerial commission, which will be hosted by Indonesia,” Marsudi added.

For agriculture sector, she said, the Fiji government specifically expressed hope that Indonesia could assist in capacity building through trainings in food processing such as cassava and sweet potatoes.

“He saw that in Indonesia, for example in Yogyakarta, a lot of traditional snacks are made from cassava and sweet potatoes. That is what he want to learn from Indonesia. And we said that we were ready to work together as they requested,” Marsudi emphasized.

In addition, economic relations between Indonesia and Fiji has shown a positive trend with Indonesian food products are popular in the Pacific island nation.

“He mentioned that Indonesian instant noodle products are already very popular in Fiji. In fact, these noodle products are very popular among Fijians who live in the highlands,” Marsudi noted.