The Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with the Riau Islands provincial administration, plans to make the archipelagic province a hub for Indonesia’s economic diplomacy. Riau Islands province comprises 2,408 islands, including Natuna Islands, a stretch of resource-rich islands jutting at the frontiers of the South China Sea and bordering Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and Malaysia.

South Korea and Africa’s exchange of ideas and experience can go further. An avenue which would allow the fulfilling of both the cultural and economic aspirations of the relations could be the formation of sister-cities; pairing each of South Korea’s major cities’ governments with those of Africa and forging a kind of ‘Mayoral Korea-Africa Forum’ as well accompanying that with population exchange programmes. 

The Pakistani ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Jauhar Saleem and his wife Zara Jauhar were accompanied by over forty other Foreign Service officials at the event, which aimed to propel Pakistani fashion and art onto the global scale. #BrandPAKISTAN was designed to stimulate interaction and synergies between local fashion and jewellery designers, musicians and artists and the international audience.

Despite public diplomacy efforts by Pacific Alliance and ASEAN members alike emphasizing the desirability of upscaling their relations, actual progress will face challenges on several fronts. [...] Nonetheless, the current context offers the Pacific Alliance and ASEAN an outstanding opportunity to build up their partnership.

Newly appointed ambassadors to 12 different countries today discussed on adopting economic diplomacy to enhance Nepal’s trade and commerce relations. [...] Newly appointed ambassadors to Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Denmark, Israel, Japan, Myanmar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Qatar participated in the programme.

All told, the Kingdom’s prioritization of its economic reform agenda, its interdependence with regional trade partners, and political uncertainty in the United States point to a period of heightened focus on Asia ties in the immediate future. However, Vision 2030’s dizzying ambition of overhauling subsidies and public sector reliance, coupled with channeling a massive, increasingly well-educated youth population into a fledgling knowledge economy, will necessitate that the Saudis cast a wide net to capture as much foreign investment and diversified revenue as possible. 

Mauritius and Norway will further collaborate to strengthen existing ties and expand bilateral cooperation in areas of mutual interest. This was at the fore of discussions this afternoon during a courtesy call by the Ambassador of Norway to Mauritius with residence in Maputo, Mozambique, Ms Anne Lene Dale, on the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, at the New Treasury Building in Port Louis.