Your Excellency, Mr. Ambassador of Indonesia Dr. Hamid Awaluddin,

Dear ladies and gentlemen,

Assalamu aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

Peace be upon you, his Mercy and Blessings.

Indonesia and Russia have much in common. And it is pleasant to mention that the relations between our countries become stronger each year, and we, Muslims of Russia are happy to be an active part of it.

The year 2011 witnessed the continuation of started mutual projects and as well new programs were introduced. Moreover the year brought us new opportunities and challenges.

I would like to emphasize the year results of cooperation in the following spheres: education, economics and culture.

But before this we should remember that the year started with tragic events – with the explosion at the Domodedovo airport that took away lives of  (инносонт) innocent people. The Ambassador of Indonesia Dr. Hamid Awaluddin  suggested quick response to those attacks by organizing a press-conference at the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow which united Ambassadors and diplomats from the biggest part of the Muslim world who unanimously condemned the actions of the terrorists.

It is a sorrow to mention that those bandits as well killed the rector of the Islamic University in Makhachkala, Dr. Maksud Sadikov, one of the close friends of Indonesia.

We pray The God  that he saved our society from this evil and reveal the true face of those who are standing behind that.

Dr. Maksud together with the delegation of the Rectors of Islamic universities visited Indonesia in 2009 and signed a MoU with the Islamic state Universities of Jakarta, Malang and Jogjakarta which started the program for sending students from Russian Islamic Universities to Indonesia for upgrading religious education. Currently 35 students from different regions of Russia are enrolled in this program. I would like to note that the Universities of Indonesia are very modern, all the students’ needs are taken into account.

We are pleased that this program is developing and we hope that in the future, students who graduated from Islamic universities will make a significant contribution in the development of relations for the benefit of  Russia and Indonesia in the dissemination of the Islamic knowledge and education.

 There were two visits of delegations of Russia muftis Council to Indonesia: which took place in April and October this year. During this visits the delegation held several meetings with officials from government agencies, particularly the Ministry of Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the heads of the leading educational institutions of Islamic Organizations, including the Indonesian Majlis Ulama, which agreed to sign the MoU in the near future.Meetings were also held with the leadership of the Islamic bank "Muamalat," which is one of the major Islamic banks and the oldest Islamic bank in the country. It is worth recalling that in the past year, specialists of the bank conducted a public lecture for the first time in Russia held in the Russia muftis Council, introduced audiences to the concept of Islamic economics, history of the development of Islamic finance and banking in Indonesia, as well as participated in a number of seminars and workshops.

This year upon the support from the Ministry of Religious affairs and the Embassy of Indonesia in Moscow, in June a group of economists and bankers from different regions of Russia visited Indonesia to study the experience of the country in Islamic banking and finance organized by Bank Muamalat Indonesia. The Russian experts visited apart from the Islamic banks and microfinance companies, the regulators,  like Bank Indonesia and the National Shariah Council.

Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia and Indonesian companies took part in an annual exhibition Moscow Halal Expo, presenting their own products, objects of national art and culture.This year, a consortium of Indonesian fashion designer Toto Supangat took part in the cultural program of the Second Moscow International Exhibition Moscow Halal Expo 2011, where he presented his collection of clothing with elements of the Indonesian national color which fascinated the audience.

We can emphasize that the Russian-Indonesian relations have strengthened and developed and this is thanks largely to the active position of Mr. Ambassador Dr. Hamid Awaluddin, during his mission cooperation between Russia Muftis Council and organizations in Indonesia in the spheres of the halal industry, Islamic economics and business, education and culture significantly intensified. For this significant contribution last month Dr. Hamid Awaluddin has been awarded an order of honour “AL FAHR” – the award of Russian Muslims.

I want to express my confidence that relations between Russia and Indonesia will continue to grow and develop and find its continuation in the new areas of cooperation. We hope that the guarantor of a strong union would be a constructive dialogue between the Muslims in our countries. We should know each other better and we are sure that each step forward will open new opportunities. We should establish stronger business relations and we have much to share in business. As well there are the prospects of development of cultural relations. All this is possible through active cooperation in the spiritual sphere. True brotherhood between our countries is the guarantee of future success.

And thank you for your attention!