Indonesia and Singapore expressed on Tuesday their commitment to strengthening bilateral ties, particularly in the economic sector.

The pledge was made after President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo held a bilateral meeting with Singapore'€™s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong during Jokowi'€™s two-day official visit to Singapore. The two leaders held a joint press conference after their summit.

Teten Masduki, a member of the presidential communications team, said the two leaders had discussed a number of important issues.

'€œIn the trade sector, Indonesia wants to increase the export of agricultural products and processed poultry products [to Singapore],'€ Teten said. '€œIn the investment sector, Indonesia hopes to see a diversification of Singaporean investment in Indonesia, including in agribusiness, transportation, communication and energy.'€

Meanwhile, Reuters quoted the President as saying on Tuesday that with the global economy '€œfull of uncertainty and risk'€, this was the best time to '€œreap great profits'€ by investing in the world'€™s fourth most populous country.

Jokowi urged Singapore, one of Indonesia'€™s top foreign investors, not to miss the opportunity to invest more in Southeast Asia'€™s largest economy.

'€œThe world looks full of uncertainty and risk. What does it all mean?'€ the President told a business forum of top government and corporate officials, which included the chief executives of DBS and Wilmar International.

'€œWe only have to look to history to prove that those who have caught it, those who come early, will be the ones who will reap great profits,'€ the President said.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) remains a rare bright spot for Indonesia with FDI in the second quarter up 18.2 percent from a year ago, its fastest pace since 2013.

But there are rising concerns over Jokowi'€™s ability to get the economy back on track, as he struggles with rifts inside his political party and squabbles between government agencies.

'€œYes it is true we still have a lot of work to do in Indonesia,'€ said Jokowi, a former furniture producer.

Singapore has long been one of Indonesia'€™s top trading partners and investors. Data from the Foreign Ministry shows that the bilateral trade reached US$41.99 billion in 2014, the second-highest after China. Singapore has consistently been among the top five investors in Indonesia in the past five years, with $5.8 billion in investments in 2,056 projects last year.

Meanwhile, PM Lee said, as reported by The Straits Times, that Singapore and Indonesia were close partners in many areas, including the economy, defense and people-to-people ties.

'€œOver the years, have seen our ties grow, broaden and strengthen. So today, I am very happy to have witnessed the signing of the [memorandums of understanding] in e-government and youth and sports, because these will add more dimensions to our ties and draw us closer together,'€ Lee said.

According to the newspaper, the two leaders also discussed the planned Kendal Industrial Park in Semarang, Central Java, which is Singapore'€™s first major industrial park investment in Indonesia outside the Riau archipelago.

A number of officials including Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Franky Sibarani and Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu were among Jokowi'€™s entourage.

During his first official visit to Singapore, Jokowi also met Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam.

Jokowi and First Lady Iriana will attend an orchid-naming ceremony held at the Singapore Botanical Gardens, where an orchid, the Dendrobium Iriana Jokowi, will be named in the First Lady'€™s honor.

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