Syria, RI celebrate 60 years of friendly ties

By: Veeramalla Anjaiah

Indonesia and Syria will this year celebrate the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Syrian Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Bassam Alkhatib said Monday in Jakarta.

“Our friendly relations are already 60 years old,” Bassam, who came to Jakarta five months ago, told The Jakarta Post in an interview at his office.

“To mark the occasion, we will organize several programs throughout the year.”

Bassam, a graduate of Moscow’s Oriental University, joined the Syrian foreign service in 1992 and has since been assigned to New York, Cairo, Moscow and Stockholm. Prior to coming to Jakarta, Bassam worked as a director at the office of the deputy foreign minister.

Although Syria only recognized Indonesia’s independence de jure in 1947, both countries officially established diplomatic ties in 1950.

Since then, Bassam said, both countries have grown significantly in all fields. Indonesia and Syria enjoy good cooperation in various international organizations.

“We always support Indonesia’s candidature for various positions at international organizations,” he said.

“We also receive similar support from our brotherly country Indonesia.”

The real boost to the bilateral relations came in February 2007, when then Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda visited Damascus and signed the Agreement on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation as well as a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of a joint commission for economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation with his Syrian counterpart, Walid al Muallem.

Bassam said Syria considered Indonesia an important country. In an effort to boost existing ties, Syrian Prime Minister Muhammad Naji al-Otari visited Jakarta in January 2009 and held bilateral talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

As a further step, Bassam said, Syria has already submitted three draft agreements to the Indonesian government. They include an agreement on mutual consultation between the foreign ministers of both countries and an agreement on the exemption of visas for diplomatic- and service-passport holders. The third is a memorandum of understanding on migrant workers.

“We would like to provide legal protection to Indonesian workers who work in Syria,” Bassam said.

“We have been treating them on a par with our citizens.”

An estimated 15,000 to 30,000 Indonesian currently work in Syria. Most of them are engaged in the informal sector and have no legal documents.

The close political interaction has led to an increase of bilateral trade over the years, but on small scale.

The bilateral trade value jumped to US$100.2 million in 2008, a huge surge from just $55.07 million in 2004.

“I am optimistic that our bilateral trade was more than $100 million in 2009, despite the crisis,” Bassam said.

True to his words, two-way trade reached $79.2 million in the first 10 months of 2009, a slight decrease of 6.10 percent from the $84.34 million registered in the same period in 2008.

The balance of trade is heavily in favor of Indonesia, which exported $98.77 million worth of goods to Syria in 2008, mainly rubber, palm oil, automobile parts, coffee, tea, wood, rubber and footwear. In the same period, it imported $1.43 million worth of goods from Syria, mainly food items, olive oil and phosphate.

“It’s true that the trade has been growing, but I am not happy about the volume of trade,” Bassam said.

“It is too small and does not reflect both countries’ economic potential.”

In recent months, the Syrian grand mufti and the Damascus grand mufti have visited Indonesia to strengthen people-to people contacts. From the Indonesian side, Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi is currently in Syria to enhance cultural links between the two countries.

When asked about his main mission, Bassam said he would work for the signing of the three draft agreements and enhance economic links.

“My main target is to strengthen the overall relationship with a main focus on enhancing bilateral trade,” he said. (The Jakarta Post, Jakarta|Mon, 01/18/2010 10:07 PM|World)