Mahendra Siregar
Mahendra Siregar (born in Jakarta on 17 October 1962) is a deputy foreign minister in Indonesia and was formerly the Indonesian Ambassador to the United States. On 25 October 2019 he was appointed as the deputy minister of foreign affairs supporting Indonesian foreign minister Retno Marsudi in the second Jokowi cabinet appointed two days earlier on 23 October. Earlier, he had been appointed as Ambassador to the US by president Joko Widodo in 2018. He had taken up his post in Washington DC in early 2019. Mahendra is a respected economist in Indonesia who has held various senior  positions within the Indonesian bureaucracy. Early life. Mahendra Siregar's family background is Sumatran. His parents are from the Angkola group, part of the Batak people from South Tapanuli in North Sumatra, and from the Minangkabau group in West Sumatra. He is married to Ita Siregar. Mahendra undertook tertiary education, first, at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. He later graduated with a Masters in Economics from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, in 1991. Work with government. A brief summary of Mahendra Siregar's work with government is as follows: Following Mahendra's appointment as deputy minister of foreign affairs  in October 2019, it was reported that President Jokowi had indicated that he should take on two main tasks: concluding trade negotiations with the United States on specific matters, and taking steps to support the Indonesian palm oil industry. Outlining his duties to the media, Mahendra noted a US review of Generalized System of Preferences was underway and that Indonesia's involvement would need immediate attention. A successful outcome, he observed, could lead to a doubling of Indonesia's trade with the US within five years. Mahendra said that his second main task would focus on "neutralizing the EU's  unfriendly position" on the palm oil industry in Indonesia. Earlier in the year, in March, the EU had decided to phase out the use of palm oil by 2030 because of deforestation concerns. Indonesia planned to engage the EU on the policy. A short time later, in early December 2019, Mahendra took steps to voice concern on behalf of Indonesia about the way that the narrative about palm oil issues in Indonesia was presented in the international media. In response to a report aired on international CNN reports entitled "Borneo is burning: How the world's demand for palm oil  is driving deforestation in Indonesia", Mahendra claimed that the report was not constructive and provided a false narrative. He noted that the Indonesian government was taking steps to address the problem and that the Indonesian government's efforts should receive international support. Other positions. Other positions which have been held by Mahendra Siregar include the following: