Marty Natalegawa (right) with Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla (left) at Gedung Pancasila Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakarta, Friday. (ANTARA/Dhoni Setiawan)

Later the coaches and athletes would become public diplomatic ambassadors."
 
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia and Cuba signed a memorandum of understand here on Friday to increase cooperation in the field of sports to improve the two countries` sports performance.

"For Cuba the cooperation would be a challenge. We have had a lot of public diplomacy in the medical field and now we will embark on a sports diplomacy," Cuba`s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said after signing the MOU at the foreign affairs ministry.

He said Cuba would send coaches and athletes to various countries to share their expertise in a diplomatic mission through sports.

"So, there will be a lot of Cuban coaches in the world. Later the coaches and athletes would become public diplomatic ambassadors," he said.

Cuba has already sent professional boxing coaches to Indonesia to help the country`s boxers in their preparations for the next Southeast Asian Games in December.

Indonesian junior teams meanwhile have been undergoing training in gymnastic, volley-ball and baseball in Cuba since six months ago.

"We are grateful the training camp is good for grooming junior athletes especially in gymnastic because we have so far not yet had such a program. Cuba meanwhile has given us a priority. Gymnastic has developed well there," secretary of the minister of sports and youth affairs, Yuli Mumpuni Widarso, said.

She said Indonesia has also sent badminton coaches to Cuba in 2008 and 2011 because the sport branch has not developed in that country.

Indonesia, she said, is also interested in cooperating with Cuba to improve the performance of the country`s softball, wrestling and volley ball athletes.

"Indonesia has not yet given Cuba much. We plan to jointly develop sports science which Cuba is now also developing. That is what we also offered just now," she said.

Yuli said Indonesia also offered sports industry development cooperation which has been started in Indonesia but which is still new in Cuba such as in ball manufacturing.

"This may help trade cooperation between Indonesia and Cuba which is now still being embargoed and so far done through a third party," she said.

Among the cooperation programs that have been agreed upon are exchange of coaches and experts in sports medicine, sports law and sports organization cooperation through seminars, researches, technology and publication as well as anti-doping control cooperation.

The signing of the MOU was also witnessed by Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa.

On the occasion the two countries also signed cooperation agreements in the field of trade, health, education, culture and regional and multilateral forums.

(Reporting by Monalisa/H-YH/F001)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

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