WITH all praise to God — Lord of the universe, the most benevolent and the most merciful — allow me to extend our greetings and congratulations to all Indonesian citizens in Saudi Arabia and our Saudi brothers on the happy occasion of Indonesia’s Independence Day on August 17, 2008. On the occasion of the 63rd commemoration of Indonesian Independence Day, let’s join hands and step forward together for the all-round development of our beloved country in all areas and to attain our common goals to ensure that Indonesia emerges as a prosperous and strong democratic country.
This year, Indonesians simultaneously celebrate the 63rd Independence Day and the 100th year of “Indonesian National Awakening.” The celebration of our ‘National Awakening Day’ reminds Indonesians about the historical genesis of this nation about a century ago, when our country was occupied by foreign powers. At that time, Indonesia as a country was a dream, an aspiration and a concept to realize. Through the times, our beloved and admired heroes tirelessly struggled and sacrificed themselves for the realization of their dreams, aspirations and concepts. They eventually succeeded in establishing Indonesia, a modern country in which we are now living with all comfort. A century later, we are proud to see that Indonesia has emerged as the fourth largest country and also the third largest democracy in the world.
In order to attain what Indonesians are enjoying today, our ancestors had to pass through a number of difficulties and challenges. With diligent efforts and hard work, we successfully overcame the difficulties and challenges on domestic front as well as in global domain. We are now capable of turning the difficulties and challenges into opportunities for progress as we enjoy it today.
Under wise guidance and visionary leadership, Indonesia has managed to achieve further progress. Economic development indicators show a steady progress achieved by Indonesians. These achievements have stimulated growth in all sectors.
The occasion also marks a program called “Visit Indonesia Year 2008,” which has been launched by the government to boost tourist and trade with our brotherly and friendly states like the member countries of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), particularly Saudi Arabia. With this program, Indonesia welcomes more foreign tourists including our brothers from Middle East to enjoy the beauty, exotic nature, culture and heritage of the archipelago state. The visitors to Indonesia will be thrilled to discover a new land, while they will relish a range of tourism programs, events and celebrations during their stay in every region of Indonesia.
On bilateral front, the relationship between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia has been progressively growing. We are happy to see the upswing in the domain of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. These encouraging trends also occur in other sectors such as education in which more Indonesian students have been granted scholarships for pursuing study in Saudi Arabia; also in the field of employment in which more Indonesian professionals are being hired and are working in this country; and in tourism field with indications that more and more Saudis will visit Indonesia in days, months and years to come. This is in addition to many other sectors, in which Saudi-Indonesia cooperation has reached great heights.
We hope that the above developments would eventually bolster stronger cooperation and brotherhood, which will be translated into action for the mutual benefit of Indonesian and Saudi people at large.