Saudi Arabia eyes special relationship with RI: Envoy

Abdulrahman Mohammed Amen Al Khayyat --JP/V. Anjaiah

Jakarta Post | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Veeramalla Anjaiah, Jakarta

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam, is seeking a special relationship with Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, the country’s top envoy said Tuesday.

“We have historic relations with Indonesia,” Saudi Arabian Ambassador Abdulrahman Mohammed Amen Al Khayyat told The Jakarta Post in connection with Wednesday’s celebration of the kingdom’s National Day.

“At present, our relationship with Indonesia is in excellent shape.”

Saudi Arabian National Day, or the Unification Day of the Saudi Arabian Kingdom, fell on Sept. 23, but due to the Idul Fitri holidays, the celebration has been postponed to Sept. 30.

The relationship between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia is already 59 years old. Next year, both countries will celebrate 60 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

Ambassador Khayyat said Saudi Arabia wanted to further strengthen this decades-old relationship.

“We would like to have a special relationship with Indonesia,” said the jovial diplomat, one of the most active in town.

“In order to achieve this, we want to increase our investments, trade and cooperation in various sectors.

“We have found a huge potential in Indonesia. We will try to have a strategic partnership with Indonesia in the future.”

Several Saudi investors, Khayyat went on, wanted to invest in various sectors in Indonesia. But the important investment proposal among all these plans is in the agricultural sector.

“Saudi Arabia wants to invest in the agricultural sector in order to have food security,” Ambassador Khayyat said.

“Our people have already surveyed several areas to choose the right place for planting basmati rice, but have not yet taken any decision on the place.

“The investment will be huge.

Insya Allah [God willing], we will sign a memorandum of understanding on this matter soon.”

The trade between the two countries has been growing in double digits during the last five years (see graphic).

In 2008, bilateral trade reached the historic high of nearly US$6 billion, a huge jump from $4.31 billion in 2007. Trade more than doubled from 2004 to 2008, increasing from $2.38 billion to nearly $6 billion in 2008.

“We are very glad to see the constant growth in our bilateral trade,” Khayyat said.

The balance of trade is heavily in favor of Saudi Arabia, thanks to its oil and gas exports to Indonesia. In 2008 alone, Indonesia bought $4.22 billion oil and gas products from the world’s second largest oil producer.

Indonesia mainly exports plywood, textiles, apparel, cars, palm oil, paper, electrical equipment and tires to Saudi Arabia.

At the political level, Khayyat said both countries shared the same views on several international issues and worked closely at the UN and other international organizations.

Another important aspect in the bilateral relationship is growing cooperation in the cultural field, especially education.

“Every year we offer several scholarships for Indonesian students to study in Indonesia as well as Saudi Arabia,” Khayyat said.

“This year we have awarded 18 scholarships to Indonesians to study science and technology at the newly opened KAUST [King Abdullah University of Science and Technology].”

KAUST is a world-class university that specializes in science and technology, in Thuwal, 80 kilometers north of Jeddah.

In Indonesia, the Saudi Arabian government fully supports the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (LIPIA) Jakarta.

“This year alone, around 1,500 students joined the institute. So far, 8,500 students have graduated from this institute.

“Now we want to open at least three LIPIA branches in other cities,” Khayyat said, adding Riyadh had sent 20 teachers to teach Arabic at various universities across Indonesia.

Saudi Arabia needs no promotion in Indonesia, as millions of Indonesians visit the holy land during either their haj or umrah (minor pilgrimage).

Khayyat said this year, the embassy had issued 207,000 visas to Indonesians for the haj, and 110,000 for umroh.

Saudi Arabia is also a major provider of employment for thousands of Indonesian workers.

“We have 1 million Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia,” Khayyat said.

When asked about the legal protection for these Indonesian workers, Khayyat said the Saudi government was very serious about protecting the rights of foreign workers.

“We have very strict rules on migrant worker protection,” the ambassador said.

“We will not hesitate to punish abusers of Indonesian workers. Their rights are guaranteed under Saudi law.”

The ambassador has another plan regarding Indonesian workers.

“We want to recruit more skilled workers from Indonesia, rather than unskilled,” he said.

“We already have some nurses working in Saudi Arabia. I have convinced several recruiting agencies to recruit skilled workers from Indonesia.”

In order to give real substance to the bilateral relations, Khayyat said, Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, the custodian of Islam’s  two holy mosques in Mecca and Medina, had already accepted an invitation from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to visit Indonesia.

“King Abdullah’s visit will lay the foundation for a new beginning in our relationship,” Khayyat said.

“Most probably the visit will take place some time next year.”
  • Sign the petition to stop Industria Chiquibul's violence against communities in Guatemala!
  • Who's involved?

    Whos Involved?


  • 13 May 2024 - Washington DC
    World Bank Land Conference 2024
  • Languages



    Special content



    Archives


    Latest posts