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Jokowi embarks on first overseas flight in pandemic era
The Indonesian leader heads to the G20 Summit in Italy, the COP26 climate summit in Scotland and the World Expo in the United Arab Emirates on his first trip overseas since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo gives a salute before he leaves the tarmac at Soekarno-Hatta international airport in Tangerang, Banten on Oct. 29, 2021. Jokowi has embarked on a week-long trip aboard a chartered presidential aircraft to attend a string of high-level events in Italy, Scotland and the United Arab Emirates. (Presidential Secretariat Press Bureau/-)
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has finally stepped out of the country after more than 20 months of domestic duties, as he headed overseas on Friday to attend a string of high-profile events in a week-long, three-nation tour.
Jokowi is set to participate in the Group of 20 Summit in Rome, Italy in person over the Halloween weekend, following which the host will hand over the presidency of the club of the world’s biggest economies to Indonesia.
From there, the President and his entourage of ministers and Cabinet staffers will head to Glasgow, Scotland to attend the highly anticipated UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) on Monday and Tuesday, before they fly to the United Arab Emirates to attend the World Expo in Dubai and participate in Jokowi’s first bilateral visit after nearly two years.
Read also: In this together: RI wants to coordinate G20 pandemic exit
Transit trade-off
For the entirety of this trip, the President has chosen to fly with a wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft owned by state flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, heeding previous calls to swap out the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) 2 presidential aircraft that experts say is better suited for domestic travel.
The head of the Presidential Secretariat, Heru Budi Hartono, told reporters ahead of the journey that the main reason for the choice of aircraft was convenience in maintaining health protocols and budgetary efficiency.
