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Jokowi, Lee to meet in Bintan for leaders’ retreat
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo shakes hands with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong after delivering a joint press conference on the ASEAN Leaders Gathering at Sofitel Nusa Dua, Bali on Oct. 11, 2018.
(Antara/Puspa Perwitasari)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will finally meet in Bintan, Riau Islands on Tuesday for their annual retreat that had been paused for the past two years due to the pandemic.
The two leaders are expected to pick up on various bilateral issues from their last meeting in Singapore in October 2019, just a few months before the coronavirus began spreading from Wuhan, China in early 2020.
Jokowi was supposed to take his turn to host his Singaporean counterpart in 2020 and, after several postponements, they will finally be able to meet this week on the resort island located just one hour by ferry from Singapore.
Singapore has already opened its borders to vaccinated Indonesians since November last year, with Indonesia set to do a trial run on opening Bintan and Batam to Singaporean tourists, despite rising COVID-19 infections in the city-state.
The Foreign Ministry’s director for Southeast Asian affairs Mirza Nurhidayat said the government was finalizing talks on various strategic issues.
“As close neighbors, we are focusing on how to improve relations in all areas, including how the two countries can cooperate in the health sector since Singapore is also going through the pandemic,” he told reporters in a recent briefing.
Read also: Indonesia, Singapore set up Bintan leaders meeting as concerns over Myanmar swirl
