Accompanied by Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi and some of his family members, Jokowi visited some of the tourist attractions which would soon host the other leaders of Southeast Asia, on top of ensuring the readiness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

With Jakarta’s role as ASEAN chairman this year, Jokowi is set to lead dozens of meetings next month.

“The list of events in Labuan Bajo will commence on May 7, starting with SOM [senior officials meeting] and various other meetings on the ministerial levels,” Retno said in a video statement on Monday. “As for the President, he will lead the summit in two formats, the plenary sessions and retreats.”

Among the long list of Jokowi’s to-dos are meetings with the ASEAN High-Level Task Force, some of the region’s businessmen and parliamentary representatives of ASEAN member countries, as well as the summit of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT).

Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship came at a tumultuous time for the region, with multiple layered challenges presenting themselves both at the external and internal levels.

With rife geopolitical rivalry between superpowers China and the United States, the Southeast Asian region had to perform a delicate balancing act to ensure the neutrality of the region, while sensitive unresolved disputes remain a security threat for ASEAN countries and beyond.

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