An impressive ceremony was held this morning at the Residence of Ambassador of Indonesia in which a large number of members of Indonesian community from all walks of life participated.

The ceremony commenced with hoisting of the national flag whilst the people who attended the ceremony recited the national anthem.

Ambassador Octavino Alimudin also delivered a speech on the Independence Day of Indonesia.

ّّFollowing is the press release of Indonesian embassy on the occasion:

Today, 17th of August 2019, Indonesian citizens have a flag raising ceremony on the occasion of 74th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Indonesia to commemorate the Independence that was struggled by our national heroes 74 years ago. It is as a bridge to prosper our people, to uphold justice towards common progress.

With the theme of the 74th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Indonesia in 2019 is “Great human resources, Indonesia onward”. For the struggle and hard work of our national leaders, and with the support of Indonesian people, today as we mark our 74 years of Independence,  we should have more capital to become a great nation not only in human resources but also in various aspects.

Indonesia that stretches from Sabang to Merauke, from Miangas to Rote, is the biggest Moslem population and the third biggest democratic country in the world. The Indonesian government has given high priority to infrastructure development by opening the isolated areas throughout Indonesia, mainly in the remote areas, the outermost Islands and the border region to strengthen our national connectivity as one of assets that we have to protect.

Indonesia has just conducted the democratic party namely General Election of 2019 as the first Election that was held simultaneously at home and abroad, including in Iran in April 2019.  The election for Indonesian citizens in Iran has been well organized by   The Overseas Election Committee (PPLN) and The Foreign Voters Organizing Group (KPPSLN) in Tehran, Qom and Post. All Indonesian Citizens in Iran has used their rights to vote whereas about 90.24% of the Fixed Voter List (DPT) and with the participation, at least all Indonesian Citizens In Iran have participated to determine the development of Indonesia for the next 5 years.

The more mature of Indonesian democracy life will strengthen the nation and government posture to interact with other countries including the Islamic Republic of Iran. The bilateral relationship between the two countries has been conducted more than 60 years and currently the cooperation has been progressing in all sectors.

In the whole last year, Indonesia has maintained its tight relations in all aspect with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Both Governments have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Health Cooperation between the Ministries of Health of Indonesia-Iran. Meanwhile, the Parliaments of both Countries also have a good cooperation in the parliamentary forum to boost their bilateral relations.

In the economic sector, Indonesia keep strengthening its trade cooperation between both countries by reducing their tariff barrier through the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) of Indonesia – Iran which is expected to be finalized soon. Indonesia is also actively promoting the economic cooperation and facilitating the interaction between the businessmen. The decreasing of trade rate due to the difficulties of banking/financial transactions with Iran has not reduced Iran’s interest to import leading commodities of Indonesian products such as agriculture products and processed products.

Despite of 35% of the decrease of visa issuance comparing with the previous year, it is because of Iran’s economic difficulties. Iranian tourist who visits Indonesia has become the first in central Asia region that reached 11 thousands during 2018. The number is possibly increased through the cooperation between Indonesia and Iran to organize the tourism promotion tourism of both countries.

According to the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) Indonesia has awarded First Trophy for Indonesia as the First Halal Tourism destination, Indonesia is ready to cooperate with the Tourism Ministry of Iran and to increase the Iranian Tourist to visit Indonesia, such as Familiarization Trip (Famtrip) to be held in October 2019. For that purpose, the respected Ministry participated in the biggest Tourism Exhibition in Iran, Tehran International Tourism Exhibition (TITE) in February 2019 for the first time.

The Cooperation of education will always be enhanced that are able to improve the quality of Indonesian human resources. The Cooperation has been developed in the past year through scholarships program, joint research, workshops, general lectures, and exchange visit between the President and lecturer of universities of Indonesia – Iran. Such cooperation is expected to develop human resources quality as the priority of Government Work Plan of the Republic of Indonesia by 2020.

To disseminate Information about Indonesia to Iranian People, particularly students and academia, in March 2019, Indonesian Embassy in Tehran has established and officially opened Indonesian Corner in University of Islamic Denominations/Mazoheb University, Tehran and Ferdowsy University, Mashaad. In the future, the Embassy is planning to open the Corner in other universities in Iran.

Some activities and achievements have been done to enhance cooperation of both countries. It showed that Indonesia is well recognized by the world. In the field of youth and sports cooperation, Indonesia noted proudly some  achievements  in various competitions  was held in Iran, including the 36th International Quran Competition in Iran 2019 where Indonesian Qur’an Reciter, Nur Salman Fadhilah has won the first , our Indonesian badminton team also got gold to bronze medals in the 28th Iran Fajr Badminton International Challenge 2019 and the last is the Indonesian Futsal National Team succeeded to upgrade the rank of Indonesia in the AFC U-20 Futsal Championship in Tabriz.

As our responsibility to protect our Citizens in Iran, Indonesian Embassy in Tehran has solved some cases and repatriated them to Indonesia including 4 students in Lorestan. The Embassy has been actively giving assistance to one Indonesian Citizen who is in a prison in Iran.

Indonesian expatriates, professionals and students who are currently stay and studying in Iran has to learn and take advantage from Iran’s strength to develop Indonesia when they are back.

To commemorate the 74th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Indonesia, the Embassy has conducted some activities such as Sport Day on 8-9 August 2019 in in Mellat Park and the Embassy, Seminar on Nationality on 10 August 2019 in Al Mustafa International University Qom, Flag Raising Ceremony that is being held today 17 August 2019 and we will also convene a Diplomatic Reception on 19 August 2019 in Parsian Evin Hotel, Tehran (Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia).