The bilateral meeting between Indonesia and Egypt has discussed various issues including trade cooperation, education, and climate change.

(Indonesia Window) – Indonesia’s Vice President Ma'ruf Amin held the bilateral meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Kamal Madbouly, Tuesday (Nov. 8) at the Egyptian Prime Minister's Office Pavilion, Sharm El Sheikh International Convention Center (SHICC), Sharm El Sheikh.

The bilateral meeting which lasted for approximately 60 minutes discussed various issues, including those on climate change, trade and education, the Indonesian Cabinet Secretariat said in an official statement received here on Wednesday.

On the occasion, Ma’ruf, who appreciated Egypt for its role in global efforts to address the climate issue, said that Egypt and Indonesia as developing countries need to continue to encourage the realization of the international commitment in overcoming this global issue from all aspects, including funding, capacity building, and technology transfer from developed countries.

Egypt is hosting the 2022 UN Climate Change Summit (COP27) on November 6-18,2022.

"Egypt's leadership at COP27 and Indonesia's leadership at the G20 have become a momentum to deal with various crucial issues related to the economy and the environment," the vice president stated.

In the trade sector, he said that the cooperation between the two countries continues to improve, which can be seen from the increase in the value of trade by more than 50 percent, reaching 1.86 billion US dollars.

In an effort to improve this good performance, the two countries need to follow up on the formation of the Joint Trade Committee and the development of the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), the vice president said.

"I ask for Your Excellency's support so that the memorandum of understanding on the Joint Trade Committee can be signed immediately and the PTA establishment initiative can be discussed immediately," he added.

In the field of education, Ma’ruf expressed his gratitude for scholarships and facilities for Indonesian students who are currently studying in Egypt.

In the future, he hoped that this good relationship in the field of education can continue to be strengthened and more Indonesian students can study in Egypt and vice versa.

“Currently there are more than 10,300 Indonesian students in Egypt. I hope that the cooperation between the two countries can continue to be strengthened, including in providing protection for Indonesian students in Egypt," he noted.

Prime Minister Kamal Madbouly said that Egypt would continue to strive to improve bilateral relations with Indonesia that have been existing since a long time, especially cooperation in the economic field.

"We also in this case would like to express our appreciation for the signing of two MoUs during the visit of the Egyptian Foreign Minister to Indonesia last March, namely the MoUs regarding the Establishment of a Joint Commission Session and Environmental Cooperation," he said.

In addition, Egypt also wants to strengthen cooperation in the field of education, he said, adding that the large number of Indonesian students in his country is a joy for the Egyptian government and society.

"We have Al-Azhar University which currently accommodates a lot of Indonesian students, the number of which reaches 11,000 and this is a source of happiness for us," he said.

During the meeting, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin was accompanied by Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar and Indonesia’s Ambassador to Egypt Lutfi Rauf.

Reporting by Indonesia Window