Indonesia and Suriname ( a former Dutch Colony) underlined historical ties as a strong basis for a closer relationship and committed to expand trade cooperation, agriculture and culture during the visit of Suriname Foreign Minister Winston G. Lackin to Indonesia on Monday.
Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Suriname counter-part, Winston G. Lackin, agreed to strengthen relations by developing multi-aspect cooperation, during their meeting at Gedung Pancasila in the foreign ministry complex in Jakarta on Monday.
“We have committed to develop our already good relations,” Indonesian Minister Natalegawa said after bilateral meeting.
He noted that the visit of Suriname’s foreign minister was timely to boost the two countries’ cooperations. The last visit of Suriname’s foreign minister to Jakarta was in 1993.
Lackin said Indonesia and Suriname had a special relationship, dating back to the migration of Indonesians to Suriname in 1890. “A large part of the Surinamese population have Indonesian ancestry.
We have been blessed by the richness of your culture, history and religion. This is a strong basis to develop further cooperation,” Lackin added, saying that Suriname is interested in observing Indonesia’s experience in developing its agriculture sector.
About 15 percent of Suriname’s population has Javanese descent. Some of Suriname’s cabinet ministers, such as interior, trade, agriculture, sports, planning, land and forestry management, technology and environment, are of Javanese descent.
Bilateral trade in 2012, according to Indonesian data, reached US$ 8.9 million. Indonesia’s exports to Suriname in 2012 was $7.1 million while imports was $1.8 million, a $5.3 million surplus for Indonesia.
Read: Indonesia, Suriname set for stronger cooperation | The Jakarta Post
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