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mid sporadic protests by several separatist groups, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo was unperturbed as he arrived in the Netherlands on Friday to forge closer bilateral ties with Indonesia’s former ruler in a visit that marks the first by an Indonesian president in 16 years.

Jokowi met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague and signed a number of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in several sectors to help the former furniture businessman realize his grand vision of transforming Indonesia into a maritime powerhouse.

The Netherlands is currently financing a number of infrastructure projects related to water supply and sanitation, water for food and the ecosystem, water governance and water safety.

Jokowi expects Indonesia to reap the benefits of transfer of knowledge and technology from the ongoing programs, which will run until 2020.

The Netherlands is also helping Jakarta strategize coastal development and ongoing national capital integrated coastal development projects.

Rutte said the Netherlands would support Indonesia’s vision to become a maritime axis by improving Indonesia’s human resources through vocational training for students studying at maritime schools in Indonesia.

Jokowi said that Indonesia needed help from the Netherlands to support his grand vision of creating land, sea and air connectivity in the archipelago.

“But for the time being, I want to focus on three priorities, including water management, maritime development and trade and investment,” Jokowi said.

As an initial step in relation to the next level, the two countries signed a number of MoUs worth $600 million in several sectors, including in the fields of agriculture, manufacturing and maritime.

“I’ve invited Dutch companies to get involved in the establishment of deep seaports in eastern Indonesia,” Jokowi told a business forum.

Jokowi also told Rutte that both countries must step up efforts to prevent two-way trade and investment from declining further.

Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $4.22 billion last year, down from $4.89 billion in 2014.

The Netherlands’ investment in Indonesia also declined last year to $1.31 billion from $1.73 billion in 2014.

During the Indonesia and Netherlands Business Forum, Jokowi said that to convey Indonesia’s seriousness about doing business with the Netherlands, which shares historical sentiment, Indonesia’s president must visit the Netherlands every three years.

“This is terrible. No Indonesian president has visited the Netherlands in the last 16 years,” he said.

In 2010, then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono called off a planned visit at the last minute after the Republic of South Moluccas (RMS) intensified its campaign, warning Indonesia that the Dutch authorities could detain him once he landed in Netherlands for alleged human rights abuse.

Rutte visited Jakarta to meet with a furious Yudhoyono in 2013, when Jokowi was still serving as Jakarta governor. Yudhoyono did not repay the visit before his departure in October 2014.

Supporters of the RMS and the Free Papua Movement (OPM) held rallies in a number of places, including in front of the Grand Hotel Amr'thKurhaus in The Hague where the business forum was held.

The groups also staged protest at the port of Rotterdam, the largest in Europe, which Jokowi visited to find inspiration for Indonesia’s maritime sector.

While Jokowi spoke with Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb, Dutch Infrastructure and Environment Minister Melanie Henriëtte Schultz and port authorities, two small planes circled the port.

The planes carried long banners printed with the words “Maluku is rich, its people are poor. Human Rights Maluku”, only to be ignored by Jokowi, who was occupied with the port discussion.

Supporters of the separatist groups who have long lived in the Netherlands sought to speak with Jokowi, but the Dutch government did not respond to their request to set up a meeting.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi said that Indonesia would focus on stepping up cooperation in water management and the maritime sector. “The two sectors are what the Netherlands are good at,” Retno said.

Jokowi also met with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands in the afternoon before flying back to Jakarta, ending his five-day European trip that took in Germany, the UK and Belgium.

Jokowi received a warmed welcome from the Netherlands authorities, who provided a large entourage at the airport to celebrate the historical visit.