Indonesia at ASEAN-Australia Summit: Discusses Palestine, EV, and Rice Import with Cambodia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi arrived in Indonesia on Wednesday evening, March 6, 2024, after a three-day visit to Melbourne for the ASEAN-Australia Summit. During the summit, Jokowi sought to strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries and emphasize Indonesia’s international principles in regional forums.

The Summit also commemorated the 50th anniversary of ASEAN and Australia’s cooperative relationship. In the second session of the summit, which raised the theme 'Our Vision for the Region and Addressing Shared Challenges', Jokowi emphasized the importance of respecting international law for ASEAN members and Australia. "Indonesia opposes black campaigns and discrimination that use environmental pretexts without scientific evidence," Jokowi said as quoted from a statement by the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday.

Jokowi did not elaborate on what he meant by black campaigns on behalf of the environment. However, this was conveyed while discussing the electric vehicle industry in Indonesia.

Jokowi also said he wanted Australian entrepreneurs to participate in building an electric car ecosystem in Southeast Asia. "Such as the Australian nickel company Nickel Industries which has invested in Morowali, Sulawesi," he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said Jokowi also emphasized solidarity with Palestine at the ASEAN-Australia Summit and called for a stop to genocide in the Gaza Strip. "The President again emphasized the importance of a ceasefire and an invitation to continue to provide support to UNRWA (the UN agency for Palestinian refugees)," Retno said in a transcript of her press statement, on Wednesday.

Plan to import rice from Cambodia

In addition to the two main summit sessions, President Jokowi held several meetings with a number of state leaders. Some of them are Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

In general, Jokowi's meetings with the three prime ministers were aimed at encouraging the strengthening of economic cooperation within the bilateral framework of each country

In a meeting with Hun Manet at the Park Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday, Jokowi also discussed the rice import plan although no official statement has been released thus far about any import deal with the country. In September 2023, the President imported 250 million tons of rice from Cambodia.

The Presidential Press on Tuesday only said, "The two leaders discussed cooperation in the field of food security, including rice imports from Cambodia." Jokowi also encouraged the renewal discussion of the MoU on rice trade cooperation and the establishment of a trade-off mechanism to agree on the price and amount of imported rice.

DANIEL A. FAJRI

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