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INDONESIAN Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka announced Indonesia’s mutual visa-free entry policy with South Africa at the Indonesia-Africa CEO Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday local time.
The Vice President announced the policy as a tangible outcome of the meeting between President Prabowo Subianto and South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, last October.
“The visit of President Ramaphosa a few weeks ago to Indonesia reflects deep cooperation between the two countries. Both presidents agreed to have visa-free entry,” he remarked, followed by a round of applause from the audience.
Earlier, in a joint press conference with President Ramaphosa at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta in October, President Prabowo underscored his commitment to implementing cooperation agreements by sending a technical team to discuss concrete programs with South Africa.
“We also hope to have closer cooperation in the field of people-to-people arrangements, for instance, mutual visa waiver arrangements,” President Prabowo said.
In his speech, Gibran emphasized that Indonesia is committed to expanding foreign investment in South Africa, particularly in the fields of agriculture and energy.
He noted that South Africa is a strategic partner and a gateway for Indonesia to penetrate the African market. At the same time, Indonesia also offers industrial capacity, human resources, manufacturing networks, technology, and access to the ASEAN market.
On that occasion, the Vice President also expressed appreciation for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the strategic industry.
Furthermore, Gibran stated that Indonesia will always be ready to assist Africa, which he views as “the continent that will set the pace of tomorrow.”
“Africa is growing really fast and is full of potential. Africa is the future, and Indonesia wants to build that future together with Africa,” he concluded. [antaranews]
