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Jokowi slated to visit Australia in November
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo (third right) attends a breakfast meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (second left) on the sidelines of the 28th and 29th ASEAN summits in Vientiane, Laos, on Sept. 8. Both leaders were flanked by top officials from each country. (Courtesy of Presidential Office/Laily Rachev)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is looking to fulfill an invitation to visit Australia by the end of the year, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi has said after a breakfast meeting with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Vientiane, Laos.
Jokowi and Turnbull met on Thursday for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the 28th and 29th ASEAN summits and related events, to follow up on issues raised during the previous day's ASEAN-Australia Dialogue Summit, the first biennial meeting between the regional partners since entering into a strategic partnership in 2014.
"The first issue we discussed was a plan for the President to visit Australia; we are looking to find the best date but it will likely be in November," Retno told reporters after the talk.
The minister said the two leaders had discussed enhancing economic cooperation, particularly with regard to the beef and cattle industry, in which Indonesia is pushing for greater collaboration in cattle breeding to ensure sustainability.
Jokowi and Turnbull also raised the issue of counterterrorism cooperation, playing off points made during the ASEAN-Australia Summit, about which there is a separate joint statement on counterterrorism in the works.
"It is very important that we further strengthen already strong ties," Turnbull said in his opening remarks before the meeting.
"As a leader of the largest Muslim majority nation in the world you are leading the way; Indonesia proves that democracy, moderation, tolerance and Islam are very compatible." (evi)
