Martin Klus: Indonesia is interested in Slovakia with the goal of gaining experience in digitalization of the state and strengthening cyber security

"I am pleased that less than a month after my working visit to the Republic of Indonesia, a delegation from Jakarta has visited Slovakia. Our cooperation has long been built on shared values of democracy, human rights and support for multilateralism. We now have the ambition to expand our partnership to include the sharing of experience and the exchange of best practices in the areas of digitalisation, e-government and cyber security, for which the Indonesian side has expressed interest. I particularly appreciate this opening of the door to new concrete sectoral cooperation, especially in the current complicated geopolitical context that affects us all."

This was stated by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Martin Klus, on Thursday, 12 May 2022, in Bratislava, during a meeting with representatives of the Drafting Committee for Digitalization of the House of Regional Representatives of the Upper House of the Indonesian Parliament. The delegation arrived in Slovakia from the Republic of Indonesia with the aim of developing bilateral relations and exchanging experiences in specific areas of cybersecurity and the digitalisation of state and public administration (e-government) in Slovakia.

"Slovakia can offer Indonesia its experience in these areas, which are also developing thanks to the membership in and the support of the European Union. I see the visit as another important impulse to enhance Slovak-Indonesian cooperation at the national, regional and even municipal level," stated Martin Klus, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic.

He also added that Indonesia is a very interesting partner for Slovakia, especially in the area of business cooperation in the South-East Asia region, as it is the fourth most populous country in the world with a rapidly developing economy. Martin Klus sees the greatest potential in the field of information and communication technologies, but also in defence, agriculture and academia, where specific agreements and forms of cooperation are already being prepared. The 4th meeting of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation should also take place in Bratislava this year.