The Chancellor is working for a free trade agreement between the EU and Indonesia Photo: Bundesregierung/Denzel

At the Federal Chancellery the Chancellor and her guest from Indonesia had time to discuss bilateral relations and current developments in the region. Angela Merkel underlined the fact that Indonesia has chalked up "impressive growth rates" and that it is an "important pillar" in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). A free trade agreement between the European Union and Indonesia is important. "I will be working to achieve this agreement," declared the Chancellor.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono too pointed to the booming economies in Southeast Asia and underscored the importance of the euro zone – free trade and investment, he said, are important, and for one, we need the other. He thus very much hopes that the European Union will manage soon to resolve the problems it is currently grappling with, and that it will then go on within the framework of the G20 to revive the overall global economy.

Stepping up and consolidating cooperation

The Chancellor pointed to the "intricately woven network" of relations and the wide spectrum of areas covered by the Jakarta declaration signed last year. Cooperation is now to be stepped up and consolidated in a number of joint working groups.

The first point to be agreed was an increase in student exchanges. More Indonesian students, especially engineering students, are to come to Germany.

The Jakarta Declaration is a bilateral agreement between Germany and Indonesia, which is designed to step up economic and political cooperation. Cooperation in the fields of health, education and social affairs, culture, science, research and technology, the environment, climate change and renewable energies too is to be expanded. The Declaration was signed by Chancellor Angela Merkel on 10 July 2012 during her visit to Indonesia.

Building on a foundation of tolerance

Indonesia is the country that is home to the largest number of Muslims in the world. The Chancellor declared that the country is an "excellent example especially in terms of the coexistence of various religious groups". During her trip to Indonesia in July 2012, Angela Merkel visited a mosque and a Protestant church.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono also stressed the importance of tolerant coexistence and said this is one of the great democratic virtues of his country.

Fostering renewable energies

For more than sixty years now the Federal Republic of Germany and Indonesia have been cooperating closely in a wide range of sectors. Cooperation in the field of development focuses on private sector promotion and good governance.

Germany also supports Indonesia in adapting to climate change. Measures are, for instance, being implemented to stem illegal logging in Indonesia. And action is being taken to promote the use of renewable energies. Geothermal power, solar power and hydropower are to be harnessed to a greater extent in  future to generate electricity.

Partner country of the ITB, travel trade show

After the press conference, Angela Merkel and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono together opened the ITB travel trade show in Berlin. Indonesia is a popular destination for German holidaymakers, and is this year’s partner country of Europe’s largest travel trade show. In her speech at the ITB, Angela Merkel once again underlined the "strategic importance" of Indonesia and the wide-ranging relations between Germany and this Southeast Asia state.

The Chancellor described the ITB itself as a "gateway to the world" and "the tourism branch’s leading trade fair". Within only a few steps, visitors can find out about the many "fabulous holiday regions" of the world, from the Arctic to the tropical belt, she enthused. "In 80 days around the word? We can happily consign that to the dustbin of history! At the ITB you can go around the world in only 80 minutes!"