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President Jokowi to visit Australia this weekend
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Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison (L) shakes hands with Indonesia's President Joko Widodo upon arriving at the presidential palace in Jakarta on October 20, 2019, ahead of Widodo's inauguration for a second term. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will visit Australia this weekend, the Foreign Ministry has said, as Indonesia is set to finalize the ratification of a landmark trade deal with the neighbor down under.
Jokowi will meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison for an annual leaders meeting in Canberra on Sunday and Monday, Foreign Ministry acting spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah told reporters on Thursday.
“Unlike the previous annual leaders meeting, this year will mark the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and Indonesia,” he said.
More importantly, Faizasyah said the two leaders would discuss the Indonesia-Australia comprehensive economic partnership agreement (IA-CEPA), which is in the final stage of ratification process at the House of Representatives.
“The ratification is one thing that we have been waiting for. Australia has already completed it, while Indonesia is in the final stage. Hopefully, once it is all completed, we can begin working on what we call ‘the low-hanging fruit’ so that we can implement the agreement,” he said.
At the meeting, the two countries are set to launch a plan of action for 2020-2024 as the reference for the implementation of the IA-CEPA, he added.
The last time the two leaders met for an annual meeting was in 2018, when Morrison visited Indonesia for his first overseas visit as prime minister. They skipped the 2019 meeting due to elections in their respective countries, Faizasyah said.
