Jusuf Kalla Ends Visit to Kazakhstan

Astana, Kazakhstan, (Antara) - Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla ended his visit to Kazakhstan and left the country early Tuesday morning for the United States.

During the visit to Kazakhstan, Kalla and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev held a bilateral meeting to discuss efforts to improve bilateral relations, especially in the economic field. The two leaders agreed to encourage the two-way flow of trade and investment.

In terms of trade, Kazakstan has offered the use of the Astana-China rail network to overcome transportation and geographical constraints, given the fact that the country does not have a seaport.

Earlier, Kalla had remarked that economic cooperation between Indonesia and Kazakhstan is still small, valued at only some US$25 million.

On Tuesday morning, the Indonesian vice president and his entourage left Kazakhstan for the United States with a stopover at Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates.

Kalla will attend the UN General Assembly in New York from September 18-23, 2017, and to seek support for Indonesia's candidacy as a Non-Permanent Member of the UN Security Council for the period 2019-2020.

Indonesia has officially declared its nomination as a Non-Permanent Member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for the period 2019-2020 at a diplomatic reception in Berlin, Germany, recently.

The reception was attended by over 500 invitees, including ambassadors from fellow countries, diplomatic corps, federal government officials, entrepreneurs, public figures, academics and media, according to a statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Berlin last Friday.

The Indonesian ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Fauzi Bowo, said Indonesia was committed to bringing justice, lasting peace and world order. In the 1950s, Indonesia initiated the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, West Java.

The ambassador added that Indonesia was actively contributing to the United Nations programs in the form of peace keeping and conflict resolution, it being the 10th largest contributor to the peacekeeping mission with some 2,867 troops that would be upgraded to 4,000 personnel by 2019.

The election for the non-permanent members of the UN Security Council for 2019-2020 will be held in June next year.(*)