ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Israel is reportedly preventing Indonesia from joining the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Reporting from Nikkei Asia, Tuesday, February 6 2024, Israeli representatives reportedly objected to starting Indonesia’s membership accession process at the OECD. However, this does not mean that Israel immediately rejects Indonesia’s membership.
It was reported that Israel’s representative at the recent OECD meeting did not want to start the process of joining Indonesia because it does not have diplomatic relations with Indonesia. The situation in the Middle East was also cited as another reason. Israel has been a member of the OECD since 2010.
Responding to this, Spokesperson for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, said that Indonesia was not involved in this discussion because it was not yet an official member of the OECD.
“The discussion regarding new OECD membership is entirely an internal discussion between member countries, so of course Indonesia, which is not yet a member, is not involved in the discussion,” explained Lalu to journalists in Jakarta, quoted Tuesday, February 6 2024.
He said the government did not see any connection between Indonesia’s consistent stance in supporting Palestine and Indonesia’s membership in the OECD.
As a reference, Indonesia officially expressed interest in joining the OECD in July 2023. About 1 month later, OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann met with President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta.
If the OECD agrees to start this accession, this group consisting of developed countries will prepare a road map towards Indonesia’s official membership. However, it generally takes around 5-8 years before a country can become a full member of the OECD.
From Israel’s rejection, Indonesia has received a lot of support from other member countries, one of which is the US which has close relations with Israel. Last year, US President Joe Biden told Jokowi that the US would support Indonesia’s membership in the OECD.
Indonesia has been a key OECD partner since 2007. If accepted, Indonesia will become the third Asian country in the OECD after Japan and South Korea. (ATN)
Check out other news and articles at Google News
Discussion about this post