I

ndonesia will soon host the leader of Afghanistan, the latest in a string of state visits that will help solidify Indonesia’s international standing as an influential middle power and major economic player.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to embark on a two-day state visit to Indonesia in April for talks that encompass a range of issues, but with particular focus on Indonesia’s role as a development partner for the conflict-ridden country, Foreign Ministry officials say.

“This visit is historic as it is the first time that an Afghan president will conduct a state visit to Indonesia, as well as being [President] Ghani’s first destination in Southeast Asia,” ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir told a press briefing on Thursday.

The former World Bank economist’s predecessor, Hamid Karzai, visited Indonesia to attend the Bali Democracy Forum in Nusa Dua in 2012.

Ghani will be in Jakarta from April 5-6, before departing for Singapore as part of his mini-tour of the Asia-Pacific region.

The ministry’s director for South and Central Asian affairs, Ferdy Piay, said that Ghani would meet President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo for talks on a range of issues, particularly conflict resolution.

Leading efforts to push reform in the Afghan government, Ghani is keen on taking a page out of Indonesia’s past successes in managing internal conflict in hopes of supporting reconciliation.

“Afghanistan is really keen on learning from Indonesia’s experiences and using them as best practices to be implemented in the country,” Ferdy told reporters.

After the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, Afghan leaders have been in protracted talks to restore governance to the country and create a durable peace.

Predictably, counterterrorism will be another focus of the bilateral meeting next month. “As we know, extremism is quite salient in Afghanistan, so Indonesia’s deradicalization programs are likely play a vital role,” Ferdy said.

Indonesia also considers the landlocked South Asian country as an important partner in peace-building efforts, particularly when it comes to disseminating the values of moderate Islam as rahmatan lil alamin (a blessing for the universe), Arrmanatha said.

Categorized as a least developed country, Afghanistan stands to benefit from Indonesia, a member of the G20, which is expected to provide development assistance to other countries in need.

In economic terms, Afghanistan is considered a non-traditional market for Southeast Asia’s largest economy, with relatively low two-way trade volume, Arrmanatha said.

According to the Trade Ministry, the volume of bilateral trade has more than halved, from US$36.6 million in 2015 to $16.25 million in 2016 — even as Jakarta has mostly benefited from the trade surplus.

Ferdy said the low trade volume is caused by various impediments, including untrustworthy trade transaction channels and a lack of direct access to the Afghan market — Pakistan and Iran have often been beneficiaries of Indonesian products re-exported into Afghanistan.

Ghani will attend a business matching forum alongside the Afghan business delegation on April 6.

He is also slated to meet Indonesia’s ulemas at Istiqlal Mosque, including those from Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama as well as other prominent religious figures.

Ghani’s tour of Indonesia follows a string of visits made by leaders from developing countries like Bangladesh, Yemen, Mozambique and Sri Lanka, all of whom have technical cooperation in place with Indonesia.