Jakarta – The world recognizes Indonesia's diplomatic achievements, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said during his annual speech at the House of Representatives on Thursday (16/08).

Jokowi encouraged all to have the confidence to engage with the international community, as the country's performance has been acknowledged.

"On June 8, the world trusted Indonesia and voted for us to became a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2019-20 period," he said.

Indonesia has been active in international peace-building, also by engaging religious leaders in conflict resolution. In May, it held a trilateral conference with Islamic scholars from Afghanistan and Pakistan, who together with their Indonesian counterparts denounced violent extremism, terrorism and suicide attacks as against Islamic principles.

In his speech, the president also reiterated Indonesia's support for the independence of Palestine. "Palestine becomes the main priority of Indonesia's term as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council."

Indonesia will also continue promoting its Asean-centered concept of Indo-Pacific cooperation, which it introduced during the ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Singapore earlier this month.

Indonesia's foreign policy in the economic sector has also been successful. In June, the European Union lifted a ban on Indonesian airlines' entering its airspace.

The president also mentioned the country's achievements in defense and infrastructure cooperation with African countries. "Indonesia has exported defense systems to Africa and our state-owned enterprises have begun infrastructure cooperation there," he said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/world-recognizes-indonesias-diplomatic-achievements-jokowi/