In terms of rigorous security and logistical preparations, the variety of aircraft and the scale of the delegation, today’s visit of the Saudi royal family to Indonesia can only be in comparison with the visit of the President of the United States.
Millions will enjoy following the historic visit of King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, the primary Saudi head of state in 47 years, and his entourage of 1,500 people, including 25 princes.
King Salman’s extravagant nine-day visit to Jakarta and Bali is indeed crucial not just for each countries but additionally for the Islamic world. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, consisting mainly of Sunni Muslims, just like the dominion of Saudi Arabia, and King Salman is the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, Al-Masjid al-Haram (Holy Mosque) in Mecca and Al-Masjid-Nabawi (Mosque Prophet) in Medina.
But as Indonesian Muslims proceed to flock to Mecca and Medina, and plenty of of them have long wanted to check in the dominion, the Saudi leader’s state visit shouldn’t be expected to be so historic. Somehow, we weren’t on the dominion’s radar, as reflected in Saudi Arabia’s total investment last yr, which was just below $1 million, in line with the Antara news agency.
Therefore, the visit should bring concrete results for each G20 members. Significant follow-up motion must be taken beyond the signing of the ten Memorandums of Understanding.
Saudi Arabia’s low level of investment signifies that Indonesians spend far more money in the dominion than we receive from the oil-rich state, through the a whole bunch of hundreds of Indonesians who go on the haj pilgrimage or (lesser hajj) yearly.
However, we also recognize remittances from Indonesians in the dominion, mainly hard-working domestic servants, who contribute to our economy.
As Indonesia sends the world’s largest variety of pilgrims to the Holy Land yearly, we support their expectations for higher services, including more arrivals and departures at airports, in requesting an extra quota to ease long queues.
The Saudi Arabian government is definitely improving facilities for pilgrims, in any case, pilgrimages, together with related support services, make the second largest contribution to the dominion’s economy after oil and gas.
In addition to grease imports, we’d like to strengthen cooperation in trade and investment. In January, state oil and gas company Pertamina abandoned two of three planned joint ventures with Saudi state oil company Aramco to modernize oil refineries in Balongan in West Java and Dumai in Riau after two years of negotiations. In December, the 2 firms signed a three way partnership agreement to modernize the Cilacap oil refinery in Central Java.
However, given the Saudis’ aggressive efforts to cut back their dependence on oil, there continues to be much work to be done. Indonesia is a component of the king’s Asian tour to draw investors for Saudi Aramco’s planned initial public offering.
There is great hope that the king’s visit will greatly boost Saudi investment in Indonesia, including in infrastructure and oil-related industries.
WelcomeYour Highness.
