The President of Indonesia, His Excellency Joko Widodo has appointed Mrs. Diaraye Barrie as that country’s Honorary Consul to Sierra Leone.

Present at the ceremony in Dakar was Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Senegal, HE Brima Elvis Koroma.
With President Bio’s ‘New Direction’ government's foreign policy tilted towards encouraging economic diplomacy, Her Excellency Mrs. Diaraye Barrie who will represent the national interest of Indonesia and its citizens in Sierra Leone, as well as promote Sierra Leone economic and cultural relations in Indonesia said her appointment is aimed at strengthening bilateral relationships between the two countries.

Accepting the honor at a ceremony in Dakar, Mrs. Barrie said she will work closely with the Indonesia Embassy in Dakar to attract investors from Indonesia to Sierra Leone through establishment of a Trade Commission.
Indonesia’s diplomatic relationship with Sierra Leone she said will be used to encourage business people from both countries to exchange visits with a view to tapping the huge potential that exists in irrigation, agriculture, fishing, mining, tourism, etc.

As such, Mrs. Barrie said the Sierra Leone Import and Export Commission and the Sierra Leone Chamber of Trade and Commerce stand ready to help Indonesian investors interested in import and export to establish footprints in Sierra Leone.
“My role is to coordinate so that each side gets value for money,” she said. She stated that she is making the necessary arrangements to make the Indonesia flag fly in Freetown, noting that the relationship with

Indonesia will be fruitful.

Historically, African countries have been friends of Indonesia dating back to 1955 milestone when the first Asia-Africa Summit was held in Indonesia to establish cooperation among South-South cooperation that led to the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement during the cold war years between America and Russia.
Indonesia stands ready to share knowledge, expertise and experience with fellow developing countries towards capacity building and development. The move by Indonesia which has 16 diplomatic missions and 22 consulates in Africa is one step further to strengthening bilateral relationships with Africa.

Mrs Diaraye Barrie has pledged to help solicit scholarship for Sierra Leoneans as Educations is the flagship of the New Direction government.

FACTS ABOUT INDONESIA
President: Joko Widodo
Capital: Jakarta
Population - 261 million
Area - 1.9 million sq km (742,308 sq miles)
Major languages - Indonesian, 300 regional languages
Major religion - Islam
Life expectancy - 67 years (men), 71 years (women)
Currency - Rupiah

Indonesia has become one of the world's major emerging economies.
Spread across a chain of thousands of islands between Asia and Australia, Indonesia has the world's largest Muslim population and Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Ethnically it is highly diverse, with more than 300 local languages. The people range from rural hunter-gatherers to a modern urban elite.
Sophisticated kingdoms existed before the arrival of the Dutch, who colonised the archipelago but gave in to an independence struggle in 1949.