Indonesia-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group led by Muhammad Farhan paid a visit to Turkey in late March. Photo: Ist/Man

In a mission to reaffirm Indonesian Parliament’s commitment to strengthening its relation with the Turkish Parliament, the Indonesian House sent Indonesia-Turkey Parliamentary Friendship Group delegation led by Muhammad Farhan to pay a visit to Turkey in late March. Farhan said his delegation discussed specific issues with all Turkish stakeholders related to the Indonesian interests.

Despite having no authority over bilateral cooperation at government level, the House—representing 270 million people—has the authority to review and approve any agreements or arrangements in the context of bilateral cooperation made by the two countries. John Kenedy Aziz (Golkar Party), Muhammad Husni (Great Indonesian Movement/Gerindra Party), and Zulfikar Hamonangan (Democratic Party) were among the members of the delegation. 

During the visit, the delegation met the Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) to deepen cooperation and exchange experiences particularly on broadcasting. In a meeting with the Grand National Turkish Assembly, the delegation discussed investment of both countries. Turkey’s successful transformation of its health sector since 2002 was the main theme of discussion when the delegation met the Deputy Minister of Health of Turkey. Hopefully, the results of the discussion will enrich discourses on health care management in Indonesia.

The delegation also met with the Turkey Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) to discuss trade and investment between the two countries. Visit to the Middle East Technical University (METU) Technopark/ODTU Teknokent was also put on the agenda. The meeting was aimed at having a closer look on the government’s integrated policies, contribution of business sectors and academics to facilitate technology, science, research and development. Hopefully the meeting would provide an overview on the various ecosystem supporting the technology development and the advancement of value creation to face industry 4.0.

Issue of promoting the development of Indonesian national products was raised in the meeting with the Turkish Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology. On that occasion, the delegation also underlined the importance for employers to continuously create innovation to boost their businesses’ growth.

In an interactive dialogue during a corporation presentation, issue of introducing prototype of the fifth-generation fighter jet jointly developed by Turkey and Indonesia was discussed in the meeting with the President/CEO of Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI/TUSAS).

Apart from meeting the Turkish institutions, the delegation also had a chance to meet the Indonesian Ambassador to Turkey and his staff in Ankara and paid a visit to the Indonesian Consulate General in Istanbul to gather information on the progress of the existing cooperation and the prospects for possible future cooperation between Indonesia and Turkey in many sectors. (bia/sf)