President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his United States counterpart Joe Biden agreed on Monday to deepen “concrete” Indo-Pacific cooperation as they unveiled a number of new US investment pledges in Indonesia.

Biden was visiting Bali for the annual Group of 20 Summit hosted by Jokowi this week, part of a broader Southeast Asia trip that seeks to spur US engagement with one of the world’s fastest growing regions, in which its strategic rival China has achieved a firm foothold over the past decade.

In a statement issued by the Presidential Secretariat after their closed-door meeting at The Apurva Kempinski Bali hotel in Nusa Dua, President Jokowi stressed the importance of the Indonesia-US partnership “building prosperity in the Indo-Pacific” – the wider region that extends from the Pacific West Coast to nations on the Indian Ocean’s rim.

He also noted the significance of cooperation under the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), saying that Washington had the full backing of Jakarta.

“For Indonesia, concrete cooperation has always been a point of reference. I will assign the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs to follow up on this collaboration,” Jokowi said.

The IPEF is considered by observers to be in competition with China’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive, but which purports to offer more robust and rules-based cooperation. Both countries are competing for influence in the region.

But with Indonesia due to take on the the ASEAN chair next year, Jokowi was also hopeful the US could participate in the Indo-Pacific Infrastructure Forum as a show of support for the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) – a more inclusive alternative to competition.

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