TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Joko Widodo agreed to strengthen Australia-Indonesia’s relationship to face future challenges and opportunities in the Annual Leaders Meeting in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday, July 4, 2023.

Prime Minister Albanese initiated AU$ 50 million to prepare for the imminent threat of climate change through the Australia-Indonesia Climate and Infrastructure Partnership. Both leaders welcome Australia’s $200 million commitment and plan to partner with Indonesia’s State Electricity Company (PLN) for a capital financing facility to support the energy transition in Indonesia.

Indonesia will have a central role to play in Southeast Asia's Economic Strategy until 2040 as the country with the biggest economy in the area. Noting that, along with the post-Pandemic recovering two-way trade with export from Indonesia reaching AU$14.6 billion, Jokowi and Albanese agreed there is a lot to be done to increase the integration of the economy and two-way direct investment between the countries.

“Australia and Indonesia partnered up and committed to facing future challenges and opportunities. Indonesia is a country of vital importance to Australia: its prosperity, security, and stability make the Indo-Pacific region more prosperous, more secure, and more stable.” Albanese said.

Jokowi and Albanese welcome a number of new commercial deals between Indonesia and Australia across the health, mining, and digital economy sectors. They also discuss the opportunity for both countries to a global transition towards electric vehicles on the road to net zero emissions.

Meanwhile, in the education sector, both leaders welcome Western Sydney University’s hope to open a campus in Indonesia, joining Monash University which already opened a campus in Jakarta in 2022. More than 200,000 Indonesian students have studied at Australian colleges.

Highlighting the strength of the Australia-Indonesia defense and security relationship, Prime Minister Albanese and President Jokowi also welcome progress towards the negotiation of a treaty-level Defence Cooperation Agreement. Both leaders discuss the shared vision of Indonesia and Australia for an open, stable, and prosperous region. The Prime Minister reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to ASEAN centrality. Australia will continue to support Indonesia’s priorities as the Chair of ASEAN in 2023.

Suci Sekarwati

Editor's Choice: Jokowi Invites Australian CEOs to Invest in IKN Project

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News