Indonesian, Egyptian House Speakers Discuss National Capital Transfer

DINAMIKASULTRA.COM, NUSA DUA, BALI – Speaker of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Puan Maharani and Speaker of the Egyptian House of Representatives Hanafi el Gebaly exchanged their views on the relocation of the Indonesian capital on Monday.

During a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 144th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union at Bali International Conference Centre, Nusa Dua, Bali province, on Monday, the Egyptian House Speaker said he hoped to be allowed to study the plan for Indonesia’s national capital relocation from Jakarta to East Kalimantan province.

Egypt is also planning to move its capital city from Cairo to a new administrative capital located approximately 50 kilometers (km) to the east of the current capital.

During their meeting, the house speakers discussed efforts for increasing education and economic cooperation between the two countries.

“About nine thousand Indonesian students are studying in Egypt, mostly at Al-Azhar University. We laud the Egyptian government’s facilitation so far. We also hope for the government to give health facilitation for Indonesian students there,” Maharani said.

She also asked Gebaly to help the Indonesian Embassy in Cairo get information regarding the condition of Indonesian students and accommodate students seeking to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Furthermore, she said she asked the Egyptian House Speaker to help increase the quota of scholarships for Indonesian students, considering that Egypt is the best country to take religious education.

The legislative leaders of Indonesia and Egypt also discussed efforts to strengthen the two nations’ trade cooperation as Egypt is Indonesia’s third-largest trading partner in the Middle East region.

The Indonesian house speaker suggested that the two countries establish a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) to bolster their economic collaboration in the future.

“We also encourage the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of a Joint Trade Committee between the Indonesian and Egyptian trade ministries,” she said.

In addition, they talked about support for Palestine.

“We support the Palestinian reconciliation efforts initiated by Egypt. We also appreciate the attempts of the government in providing humanitarian aid access to Indonesian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for Palestinians in Gaza through the Rafah border, Egypt,” Maharani said.(ds/antara)