JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – English plans to send its aircraft carrier to the Indo-Pacific region by the end of this year.
The plan was presented by the UK Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a release when the British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab visit Indonesia on Wednesday (7/4/2021).
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In press release, The British Foreign Ministry said that the combat group aircraft carrier which is led HMS Queen Elizabeth will be shipped to the Indo-Pacific later this year.
Raab said the deployment of an aircraft carrier battle group marked a new era in security cooperation.
“The deployment of this aircraft carrier battle group marks the beginning of a new era of defense cooperation,” Raab said in a release.
“And the UK is investing in long-term partnerships as a force for good in the region (Indo-Pacific),” added Raab.
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During his visit to Indonesia, Raab met with the President Joko Widodo and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Retno Marsudi.
Raab discussed the UK-Indonesia trade partnership, which is currently developing, worth 2.7 billion pounds (Rp. 54 trillion) a year.
Apart from that, Raab also met the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Budi Gunadi Sadikin and discussed the importance of international collaboration in pandemic preparedness.
After visiting Indonesia, Raab will leave for Brunei Darussalam on Thursday (8/4/2021).
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In the Commonwealth member country, Raab will discuss trade, climate and security issues with the British Garrison stationed in the country.
Meanwhile, Retno underlined that Britain was a strategic partner for Indonesia.
The Indonesian-British cooperation is not only beneficial for both countries, but also for the world as well release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Health cooperation is very important to build resilience in our health industry. Solidarity and cooperation are the keys to getting out of this pandemic, ”said Retno.
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In addition, Retno also emphasized the importance of Britain’s role in strengthening vaccine multilateralism.
Amid increasing vaccine nationalism in many countries, Indonesia and the UK have agreed to promote equal access to vaccines.
Retno also acknowledged that Britain is an important economic partner of Indonesia, namely as the second largest investor and fifth largest trading partner in Europe.
British investment in Indonesia will increase by 35 percent in 2020 even though the world is being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this area, Retno shared information about Indonesia’s Souvereign Wealth Fund (SWF) and explored the possibility of establishing a Bilateral Investment Agreement (PIB) between the two countries.
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