Red carpet welcome: President Joko âJokowiâ Widodo (left) shows the State Palace to the visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron in Jakarta on Monday
span class="inline inline-center">
The leaders of Indonesia and the United Kingdom expressed on Monday their commitment to boosting economic cooperation and improving security cooperation between two countries in the fight against extremism.
The pledge was made during a bilateral meeting between President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is in Jakarta for his first official visit outside Europe since he won reelection in May, at the Presidential Palace on Monday.
In a joint press conference after the meeting, Jokowi said the two countries had expressed a commitment to improve economic ties and discussed Indonesia's desire to see a diversification of British investment from oil and gas to infrastructure.
The two countries will hold a business meeting on Tuesday, which will also be attended by representatives from 30 major UK companies who are accompanying Cameron on his visit,
The two countries will also strengthen interfaith dialogue.
'We'll also continue to push the interfaith dialogue which has been conducted by the UK and Indonesia,' Jokowi said.
The two leaders signed four memorandums of understanding on cooperative activities in maritime affairs; on police cooperation in preventing and combating terrorism and other transnational crimes; on research and innovation partnership; and on collaboration in civil space entities.
Speaking after Jokowi, Cameron said he hoped his visit to Jakarta underlined his commitment to improving the bilateral relationship.
'First on the economic relationship. The UK is the fifth-largest foreign investor in Indonesia. We're natural business partners, but there's much more that we can do,' Cameron told the press conference.
According the latest data of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), the UK was the seventh-largest foreign investor in Indonesia in the first half of this year with investments worth US$424.93 million. BKPM data showed that the UK was the fifth-biggest foreign investor in Indonesia with $1.6 billion in 2014.
According to Cameron, the UK's leading engineering and energy companies could help Indonesia deliver on Jokowi's ambitious infrastructure plan.
'We've also discussed security issues. We're both concerned about the threat from ISIL [the Islamic State movement],' Cameron said, adding that his country would provide a package of counter terrorism support that would beef up security at airports in Bali and Jakarta, enhance cooperation on terrorist investigations and provide training for 50 Indonesian counter-terrorism police personnel in the UK.
'Alongside this, Britain will seek to learn from Indonesia's approach to countering extremism with exchange programs between religious communities here and in the UK to foster a better understanding of what works,' he added.
Reuters reported that Cameron recently said he aimed to use his trips to Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, to bag business deals and to forge new alliances to counter extremism.
During the press conference, Cameron also said the UK fully supported the ASEAN Economic Community, which he deemed would 'boost trade not just within countries of the region, but between regions and the rest of the world'.
The meeting, Jokowi added, also discussed Indonesia's request for visa exemptions for Indonesian tourists visiting Britain. According to Jokowi, the British prime minister also underlined his respect for the territorial integrity of Indonesia.
Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi declined to reveal whether the fate of British drug trafficker Lindsay Sandiford who is on death row, was discussed during the Jokowi-Cameron meeting.
Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.