REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Religious Affairs Ministry will arrange a meeting between Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud and some interfaith leaders in his visit to Indonesia.
"It will be an important meeting, the King will meet religious leaders. We are trying to arrange this," Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said at the Presidential Palace here, Monday.
King Salman is scheduled to have a state visit in Jakarta and Bogor on March 1-3. The King and his 1,500-strong entourage, including 10 ministers and 25 princes, will have a six-day vacation in Bali.
The last visit of a Saudi Arabia's king was in 1970.
However, Lukman could not give details of the meeting saying that the meeting has been prepared to adjust it to the King's agenda. President Joko Widodo and King Salman are expected to sign 10 memorandums of understanding.
"Among others, the MoUs are related to improvement of hajj and umrah (minor hajj) services, endowments on religious education, culture, and special endowment," Lukman said.
The minister noted that Saudi Arabia is more experienced in managing endowments as a means of empowering its people.
In the future, Lukman added, the authority will expand endowments management, not only to charity but also to development of mosques, schools, as well as productive businesses.
According to data of at the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), Saudi Arabia's investment in 2016 was only recorded at US$900,000, lower than South Africa's investment of US$1 million and Mali's investment of US$1.1 million.
Saudi Arabia has a large potential to invest in Indonesia, and most of Saudi investors are wealthy royal families.
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