JAKARTA: Indonesia is seeking closer cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the energy sector, labor and people-to-people relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday during Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed bin Abdulkarim El-Khereiji’s visit.
The visit comes as Indonesia seeks to enhance its trade ties with Saudi Arabia. The two countries established in October the Saudi-Indonesia Supreme Coordinating Council headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Joko Widodo.
In Jakarta, El-Khereiji met his Indonesian counterpart Pahala Mansury and they followed up on the establishment of the council, said a statement from the foreign ministry: “Deputy FM Mansury encouraged more cooperation between the two countries on trade and investment, in the energy sector, including renewable energy, retail sector and halal products.”
Indonesia has lately sought to enhance its trade ties with Saudi Arabia and gain a greater presence in the Middle East.
Bilateral ties have traditionally focused on Hajj and Umrah as Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, sends the largest Hajj contingent of pilgrims every year.
Recently there have been talks to explore untapped potential in commerce, with Saudi-Indonesian trade increasing on average by around 5 percent annually between 2018 and 2022, according to data from the Ministry of Trade.
During the meeting with El-Khereiji, Mansury also sought the placement of Indonesian skilled workers in Saudi Arabia’s health, services and hospitality sectors and eased visa rules for Indonesian and Saudi citizens.
“They also discussed mutual support in many international fora … (and) more representations from Indonesia at the OIC subsidiary bodies,” the ministry said.
Indonesia seeks closer cooperation in energy, labor with Saudi Arabia
https://arab.news/z2zvb
Indonesia seeks closer cooperation in energy, labor with Saudi Arabia
- Saudi Deputy FM El-Khereiji meets Indonesian counterpart Mansury in Jakarta
- Indonesia, Saudi Arabia established Supreme Coordination Council in October
Hundreds of thousands of Catholics join Black Nazarene procession in Manila
- Around 80 percent of Philippines’ 110 million population are Roman Catholics
- The annual 6km procession began at 4 a.m. on Friday
MANILA: Hundreds of thousands of Catholics took part in a barefoot procession in Manila on Friday, carrying the Black Nazarene, a centuries-old ebony statue of Jesus Christ believed by devotees to have miraculous powers.
Around 80 percent of the Philippines’ 110 million population identify as Roman Catholic, a legacy of more than 300 years of Spanish colonization.
After a midnight mass joined by tens of thousands of worshippers, the procession began at the Quirino Grandstand at 4 a.m., with the statue of Jesus placed on a cross carried by a four-wheel carriage, which then slowly traveled through Manila’s roads, thronged by massive crowds, for around 6 kilometers.
The procession — which is known as the Traslacion (“transfer”) or as the Feast of the Black Nazarene — commemorates the 1787 relocation of the Black Nazarene from a church inside the colonial Spanish capital of Intramuros in Manila’s center to its present location in Quiapo Church.
For many Filipino Catholics, the annual procession and the festivities surrounding it are deeply personal — a way of expressing deep faith and spiritual devotion, and conveying their personal prayers.
“As early as Jan. 8, you will already see a long queue of devotees near the Quirino Grandstand. Many of them are there to get the chance to wipe a towel on the image of the Nazarene. That’s their devotion,” Jomel Bermudez told Arab News.
Many devotees believe the statue is miraculous, and that touching it, or the ropes attached to its float, can heal illness or help provide good health, jobs and a better life. This belief is partly because the statue has survived multiple earthquakes, fires, floods, and even the bombing of Manila in the Second World War.
“We wipe (the towels) on our bodies, especially on sick people,” Bermudez continued. “My father, for example, was diagnosed with leukemia and now he is already recovered. He was one of my prayers last year. He is 56, and he survived.”
On Friday, many devotees were clad in maroon and yellow as they flooded the streets to swarm the statue, jostling for a chance to pull its thick rope.
Bermudez, who first participated in the procession in 2014, said he was inspired to do so by seeing the effect it had had on friends who had taken part.
“I saw friends whose lives really changed. That encouraged me to change too,” he said, adding that this year he is one of a group on the sidelines helping to keep the procession moving.
“My prayers before were already answered. This time, I’m praying for my children’s success in life,” he said.
Jersey Banez, a 23-year-old devotee, was among those who arrived as early as 2 a.m. to take part in the procession.
“I do this every year. I’m just grateful for a happy life,” he told Arab News. “My prayer is still the same: to have a happy family and a happy life, and that everyone and everything that needs to change will change.”
