Swiss President Praises Human Rights Protection in Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia (News Today) - President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard praised the development and growth of democracy and human rights protection in Indonesia.

"Switzerland is host to Geneva international human rights convention, therefore we know quite well what it means," Leuthard said at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta Wednesday after a bilateral meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

He said his government believed in and praised the government of President Yudhoyono with regard to the positive developments of human rights laws. It also indicated, he added, that human rights laws and the law of democracy in the entire region would improve and increase.

President Leuthard said it is an important factor to make the people feel safe and have equal rights under the constitution and in participation in the government and in public affairs.

"We in Switzerland have a high appreciation of this, and we will continue contributing the best we can in this case, bilaterally, or by way of ASEAN," he said.

In the meantime, President Yudhoyono said that Indonesia is now in the process of reforms and transformation, and also in the process of promoting and building democratic life, and in the process of rebuilding the economy following the crisis 10 years ago.

"Indonesia is also constantly trying to build good governance, keeping unity and social harmony, and increasing regional and international roles, like facing climate change and in building a dialog between civilizations," he said.

President Leuthard is conducting a working visit to Indonesia, including Jakarta and Surabaya from July 6 to 9, 2010, for a meeting with businesspeople and government authorities. By way of forming the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETC) on November 26, 2009, Indonesia has been considered as a priority country as Swiss strategic partner in economic and development cooperation.

Swiss investment in Indonesia is quite high, ranking the 15th in the 1990-2009 period, totaling 740.7 million dollars covering 120 new projects in the Jan 2005 - Sept 2009 period worth USD 313 million.

Source : kompas

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