The Jakarta Post
As Indonesia and Thailand are both assuming strategic international roles next year, they are saying they would first look into Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s proposal for a regional free trade zone.
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the two countries are expected to communicate more intensively as Thailand takes ASEAN chairmanship, while Indonesia becomes a temporary member of the United Nations Security Council.
“One of Indonesia’s priorities was to empower regional organizations to respond to issues in the region, including through ASEAN,” she said after a joint commission meeting with her Thai counterpart in Yogyakarta on Friday. She said the two countries agreed to alter their relationship into a strategic partnership, noting that in previous meetings the two countries signed five documents involving defense, bilateral trade, invest...