President Iliescu to visit RI next year

JAKARTA: Rumanian President Ion Iliescu is scheduled to make a state visit here early next year in a bid to strengthen bilateral ties, Rumanian Ambassador to Indonesia Gheorghe Savuica said on Monday.

Savuica said the visit was also meant to return a state visit made by Megawati Soekarnoputri to Rumania in April 2003.

The exact date of the visit is still being discussed.

"Indonesia is a traditional partner of Rumania," Savuica said on the occasion of Rumania's 85th National Day on Dec. 1. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1958.

During her visit to Rumania in April, Megawati signed a number of memorandums of understanding with her Rumanian counterpart.

Savuica said Rumania was seeking to boost its trade volume with Indonesia and enhance economic cooperation in the fields of energy, transportation, agriculture and oil industry, as well as science and technology. -- JP