President Jokowi, PM Lee Hold Bilateral Meeting

President Jokowi holds bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong, Thursday (03/16/2023) in Singapore (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat/Laily Rachev)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Thursday (03/16) arrived at Changi International airport in Singapore at 09.20 local time.

Upon his arrival, President Jokowi and his entourage were welcomed by several officials including Minister of Education of Singapore Chan Chun Sing, Ambassador of Singapore to Indonesia Kwok Fook Seng, and Ambassador of Indonesia to Singapore Suryopratomo.

In Singapore, the Head of State was slated to hold bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at the Presidential Palace of Singapore.

“There are a lot of progress after holding the bilateral meeting in Bintan [regency in Riau Islands province] in January 2022. Singapore’s investment increased 40 percent while Indonesia’s trading volume increased 25 percent,” President Jokowi said while delivering joint press statement with PM Lee.

The President went on to say that in a bid to reinforce cooperation in political, legal, and security sectors with Singapore, three agreements including FIR (Flight Information Region) agreement, Extradition treaty, Defense cooperation agreement have been ratified.

In order to strengthen the implementation of the agreements, both countries have agreed to carry out some points, namely updating the MoU between prosecutors, finishing the MoU between polices to combat cross-border crimes, forming a defense cooperation committee, and formulating technical rules for implementing FIR, defense, and extradition agreements.

“I also would like to express my gratitude that the joint sea patrols will resume in order to strengthen the maritime security of both countries and enhance disaster management and search and rescue efforts,” the President added.

Echoing the same sentiment, PM Lee also expressed his gratitude to President Jokowi for the support and collaboration, while underscoring that Singapore will continue to collaborate with Indonesia in implementing the agreements.

PM Lee further stated that the success of the implementation of the agreements will reflect the strengthening of the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. (MAY/RF/UN) (AP/HD)