Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto will swear in 31 Indonesian ambassadors on Monday as the retired army general tries to be friends with all countries.

The inauguration is set to take place at the presidential palace in Jakarta at 5 p.m. 

"These ambassadors will represent us in various strategic regions in the world, including some international organizations," the presidential press bureau's deputy Yusuf Permana said.

"The appointment of these ambassadors is part of the government's commitment to bolster Indonesia's diplomatic ties and cooperation with countries whom we are friends with all over the world," Yusuf said.

A list of the ambassadors showed that Prabowo would inaugurate Indonesia's ambassadors for Italy and Iran, among others. The strategic ambassadorial post in the US, however, remains vacant. 

According to the list, Prabowo has picked PDI-P lawmaker Junimart Girsang to represent Indonesia in Italy as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Foreign Affairs Ministry's spokesman Rolliansyah Soemirat will be Indonesia's new ambassador to Iran. Prabowo has also picked the ministry's senior official Cecep Herawan as Indonesia's ambassador to South Korea. Former Constitutional Court justice Manahan Sitompul is set to secure the ambassadorial post in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Since assuming power last October, Prabowo has made it clear that he wanted to embrace what he called a "good neighbor" policy. He reiterated this stance when launching the Batang Industropolis Special Economic Zone in Central Java last week in hopes that his statement could convince foreign investors.

"[Our foreign policy] is to make friends with all countries. We [Indonesia] want to be a good neighbor. A thousand friends is too few. One enemy is too many. Indonesia is firm in this matter. We believe [such stance] can take us to a better future," Prabowo said at the time.

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