REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi and her Ethiopian counterpart Dr. Tedros Adhanom have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Bilateral Cooperation Forum (BCF) to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The MoU was signed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during Minister Marsudi's visit there on January 29, 2015, according to a press release received by Antara here on Friday.

"This MoU shows Indonesia's commitment to its bilateral relations with Ethiopia. It is also expected to help increase Indonesia's presence in the Ethiopian economic field," she remarked.

Minister Marsudi's visit also marked the first official visit by an Indonesian foreign affairs minister to Ethiopia since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1974.

During her visit, Minister Marsudi suggested her counterpart to open an Ethiopian Embassy in Jakarta as Indonesia already has an embassy in the country since 1976.

Moreover, Indonesia is the only ASEAN member country that has an embassy in Addis Ababa, Minister Retno added.

"Jakarta needs an Ethiopian Embassy not only to increase the bilateral relations between the two countries but also for increasing synergy among the Africa Union countries and ASEAN, considering that Jakarta and Addis Ababa are the diplomatic capitals of Asia and Africa, respectively," she noted.

Minister Adhanom has responded positively to the suggestions and has promised to follow it up.

During the visit, Minister Marsudi also paid a courtesy call to Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome and met some Indonesian investors in the country, including PT Indofood and PT Sinar Antjol.

The bilateral trade between Indonesia and Ethiopia increased 50 percent, or reached US$57.38 million, in 2013 from US$38.4 million in 2012, with Indonesia earning a total surplus of US$27.4 million.

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