Ecuador opens embassy in RI

JAKARTA: Ecuador has opened it embassy in Indonesia to further strengthen existing bilateral relations, the Ecuadorian Embassy in Jakarta announced.

Ecuador was the second country this year to open an embassy in Jakarta, the other was Zimbabwe in April.

In a simple ceremony last week, Ecuador's Ambassador to Indonesia Alfonso Lopez Araujo inaugurated the new embassy at the World Trade Center in downtown Jakarta.

"It's a step forward to build a better and strong relationship between Ecuador and Indonesia," Ambassador Araujo said while opening the embassy.

Araujo, who submitted his credentials to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Nov. 25, 2004, thanked the Indonesian government, especially the foreign ministry for all the help extended.

The embassy's first secretary Monica Martinez told The Jakarta Post that the two countries have had diplomatic relations since 1980.

"Our countries established diplomatic relations based on an agreement reached in New York in 1980," Martinez recalled. -- JP