KOPI, Jakarta – Ambassador of Lebanon, His Excellency Dr. Georges Abou Zeid, was pleased welcoming an honorary visit from the General Chairperson of the Indonesian Citizen Journalists Association (Persatuan Pewarta Warga Indonesia – PPWI), Wilson Lalengke, at the Lebanese Embassy office, Jl. YBR V No. 82 Kuningan, South Jakarta, Tuesday, March 19, 2024. This national press figure was accompanied by his fellow, the President of the Firsts Union, Dr. Abdul Rahman Dabboussi.
At the meeting, Dr. Georges Abou Zeid looked very happy and enthusiastic receiving his two guests. The greetings of ‘assalamu’alaikum’ and ‘Ramadhan Kariim’ were the welcoming words of the Lebanese Ambassador who had served in Jakarta for about 2 months.
The meeting, which started at 10.00 Western Indonesia Time, lasted for 1.5 hours. Many things were being the topics of conversation, ranging from light things such as tourist activities in their respective countries, to heavy topics related to political turmoil and conflict in the Middle East which had a direct impact on the Lebanese people.
“Lebanon is a small country surrounded by giant countries. Everything that happened in the Middle East will definitely impact our country,” said Ambassador Georges, describing the situation in his country which is very different from the peaceful and calm Indonesia.
In such conditions, he continued, Lebanon needs support from various countries, especially Indonesia. Cooperation between the two nations needs to be built and strengthened in various fields, especially education, culture, economy and tourism.
“We have to expand and strengthen our cooperation between Indonesia and Lebanon such as doing exchange student programs among Indonesian universities and several universities in Lebanon. Indonesian people can also visit Lebanon anytime, we have many beautiful and historical places in Lebanon,” explained Georges, whose official status is as Acting Ambassador of Lebanon in Indonesia.
The Lebanese Ambassador also explained that currently the governments of the two countries, Indonesia and Lebanon, are in the process of developing and formulating an agreement regarding visit visas for each other’s countries. “Currently, an agreement is being prepared between the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to implement a free-visa program for the holders of diplomatic passports, government service passports and specialist figures between the two countries,” said Ambassador Georges added that this was important to activate more intense and closer cooperative relations between Lebanon and Indonesia.
Apart from that, the Lebanese Embassy is also encouraging the acceleration of the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce. “At the same time, we are also currently in final preparations for the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Lebanese Chamber of Commerce Federation and Kadin Indonesia in Jakarta,” he added.
Based on historical background about Indonesia and Lebanon, according to Dr. Georges, who once served at the Lebanese Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, this country whose flag with a red, white and green cedar tree motif was the first country to grant recognition of sovereignty to Indonesia in the early days of independence, followed later by Egypt and other countries in the Middle East and Africa. Not only that, Lebanon also sent its delegation to the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955 which came to constitute the Non-Aligned Movement.
From this meeting with the Lebanese Embassy, PPWI together with Firsts Union will prepare several strategic programs for developing cooperative relations with the Lebanese Embassy. One of them is the preparation and publication of a book with the theme ‘Indonesia-Lebanon Relations from Time to Time’, which will begin with an article writing competition on the same theme, fully supported by the Lebanese Embassy.
The friendship meeting ended with the handed on a certificate of appreciation from the PPWI – Firsts Union consortium to H.E. Dr. Georges Abou Zeid and photo session. (APL/Ed)
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