The bilateral meeting was held on the sidelines of the Forum Ministerial Meeting of East Asia-Latin America Cooperation (FEALAC) in San Jose, Costa Rica on August 21, a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
At the meeting, Minister Marsudi and Vice President de Alvarado identified some bilateral cooperation fields where relations can be improved between the two countries.
Panamas Vice President emphasized the importance of connectivity in strengthening bilateral cooperation.
The country will host a high-ranking officials meeting to discuss connectivity in April 2016, and expects support from Indonesia to encourage the same.
Meanwhile, Marsudi expressed her optimism for the improvement in relations between the two countries and identified four cooperation fields where bilateral relations could be encouraged.
These fields are: the implementation of an Indonesia-Panama bilateral consultation forum, the improvement of inter-community relations by providing visa on arrival facility and vice versa for Indonesia, cooperation in maritime affairs, and the establishment of a mandatory consular notification.
Minister Marsudi stated that in order to guarantee the protection of Indonesian citizens and sailors, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry would encourage the establishment of mandatory consular notification agreement between Indonesia and Panama.
Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that currently there are more than 5,000 Indonesian ship crew members registered to work in Panama.
At the meeting, Vice President de Alvarado also offered that the Indonesian government take advantage of Panama as a market for Indonesian products, and that Panama could also act as a gateway for marketing Indonesian products to other countries in Central and South America, through the Panama Canal.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Panama in 1979, the two countries have signed two agreements, namely the Agreement on Visa Exemption for diplomatic passports and official passports holders, which is currently in the process of ratification, and a Memorandum of Understanding on the Bilateral Consultation Forum establishment.
Value of bilateral trade between Indonesia and Panama in 2014 reached US$ 149 million, with the surplus for Indonesia amounting to US$ 69.6 million.