West Manggarai, May 10 (AseanAll) — President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo held a bilateral meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the 42nd ASEAN Summit 2023 in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province ,Indonesia on May 9, 2023.
Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi in her statement after accompanying the President in the bilateral meeting said that the President has conveyed the importance for the two countries to immediately resolve several aspects of the maritime and land borders.
“President Jokowi once again reminded of the importance of optimizing the One Channel System and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia,” stated Retno.
As part of the efforts to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, Retno stated that the Malaysian PM once again extended an invitation to President Jokowi to visit Malaysia.
In addition to the Malaysian PM, the Head of State also held a bilateral meeting with the PM of Laos Sonexay Siphandone. The meeting mostly discussed economic cooperation.
“The President cited cooperation between Indonesian State-Owned Enterprises and Laos, including between PLN and Électricité du Laos, aircraft procurement from PT. DI by the Laos Air Force, and train procurement from PT INKA by Petrotrade Laos Public Company,” said Minister Retno.
Both leaders also emphasised the importance for the two countries to enhance cooperation in eradicating trafficking in persons which currently occur frequently in ASEAN member states.
On Wednesday’s (10/5/2023) agenda, five meetings are scheduled, all of which will be chaired by President Jokowi. Among them is the Summit meeting in plenary format, in addition to four interface meetings, respectively with parliament, youth, and with ABAC/businesses, as well as with the high-level task force.
On Thursday (11/5/2023), three meetings are planned, namely the Summit meeting in the form of a retreat, and two sub-regional meetings, the IMT-GT and BIMP-EAGA meetings.
“Of the three meetings, two will be chaired by the President. Today, the Foreign Ministers have conducted a meeting. The objective is to prepare what will be discussed and also to finalise all the documents that will be submitted to the Summit tomorrow, to be adopted and recorded by the Summit," said Retno. Essentially to prepare what will be discussed and also to finalise all documents to be conveyed for the Summit tomorrow, to be adopted and noted by the Summit, said Retno.
