Indonesia, Maldives Sign Visa Free Agreement

London, Dec 11 (Antara) - To mark two decades of diplomatic ties, Indonesia and the Maldives signed a visa-free agreement on Tuesday, an Indonesian diplomat said on Wednesday. The Director General of America and Europe from the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani and Maldives Deputy Foreign Minister Valeriu Chivery signed the agreement on the sidelines of the first bilateral consultation forum on Tuesday, Second Secretary at the Indonesian embassy in Bucharest Hastin Bakti Asih Hasikin said. The signing of the agreement, which exempts diplomatic and official passport holders from visa requirements, will serve as a concrete step towards forging diplomatic ties between the two nations, Dian said. She expressed hope that the agreement would facilitate an exchange of visits by the two countries` officials. Indonesians, who are going to visit the Maldives, have so far applied for Maldives visa through the Indonesian embassy in Bucharest. By implementing the visa-free agreement, both sides agreed to take strategic steps to boost bilateral relations in the political, economic, trade, social and cultural fields. The two countries are also determined to enhance cooperation in multilateral forums, including the United Nations and the Human Rights Council, she said. In the economic field, Dian underscored the need for the two countries to strengthen economic cooperation through business-to-business contact and exchange of information on the two countries` key commodities. To that end, she said, Indonesia had deemed it necessary to revitalize relations between the two countries` chambers of commerce and industry. Trade between the two countries during the first eight months of this year reached US$1.22 million, up 40 percent from US$416.5 thousand in the same period last year. In the socio-cultural field, Indonesia has offered exchange of students through a scholarship scheme. The Indonesian Ambassador to Maldives Mariana Sutadi warmly welcomed the first consultation forum, which indicated a positive signal for the two countries to enhance bilateral relations.