P

resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is slated to meet with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, during the latter’s two-day visit to Jakarta next week. It will be one of the Qatari head of state’s first forays into Asia since a diplomatic spat isolated the Gulf state.

The Emir is scheduled to arrive in Indonesia on Tuesday, while the official program is set to begin with a reception hosted by Jokowi at the Bogor Palace on Wednesday morning, according to the Foreign Ministry.

The trip is the Emir’s second recent string of foreign visits, after he went to Turkey, Germany and France, as well as the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month.

“It is a return visit by the Emir after President Jokowi visited Qatar in September 2015,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said on Friday. “Foreign Minister [Retno LP Marsudi] will accompany the President in receiving the Emir.”

The Emir is also scheduled to visit Singapore and Malaysia.

Qatar has been embroiled in a diplomatic spat with a number of its neighbors in the Gulf region, notably Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

They have cut ties with Qatar — a major global gas supplier and host to the biggest United States military base in the Middle East — on June 5, accusing it of financing militant groups in Syria and allying with Iran, their regional foe. Doha denies the allegation that it sponsors extremists.

Shortly after the tensions were stoked, Indonesia came out with a statement calling on all feuding parties to practice self-restraint to avoid further tussles.

In the latest twist in the regional debacle, Qatar has asked the World Trade Organization (WTO) to set up a dispute panel to adjudicate on its row with the United Arab Emirates, escalating a trade complaint it lodged with the WTO in July.

Sunarko, the ministry’s newly appointed director for Middle Eastern affairs, said the two leaders were expected to discuss regional and global issues during their meeting but fell short of revealing whether the diplomatic crisis was on the agenda.

The Qatari Embassy in Jakarta was not immediately available for comment.

During the first day of his visit, the Emir will hold bilateral talks with Jokowi, before attending a business forum alongside some 40 business delegates from Qatar and 150 Indonesian businessmen in Jakarta in the afternoon.

Sunarko said the Emir’s visit to Indonesia demonstrated the two countries’ strong commitment to enhance their diplomatic ties, established 41 years ago.

The two sides are expected to ink cooperation agreements in a number of sectors, including energy, trade, health care, youth, culture and sports as well as civil aviation.

Official data shows two-way trade between Indonesia and Qatar reached US$900 million in 2016.

Indonesia mainly imports oil from Qatar, while Southeast Asia’s biggest economy exports automotive products, textiles, footwear and furniture to the Gulf nation.

Around 30,000 Indonesians live in Qatar, mostly professionals in various sectors, Arrmanatha said.