Australia’s Albanese, Indonesia’s Jokowi ride bamboo bikes, talk ‘green’ investment, trade and language support

PM Albanese tells Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo their ‘ever deepening’ bilateral relationship was strengthened by joint strategic and economic interests

Initiatives unveiled by Albanese, including green-tech support and Bahasa Indonesia lessons Down Under, were described as ‘nothing new’ by an analyst

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Joko Widodo with bamboo bicycles after a ride in Bogor, Indonesia, on Monday. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Published: 6:58pm, 6 Jun 2022

Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at a presidential palace in the city of Bogor on Monday, where he hailed the two nations’ crucial and significant ties.

“Australia’s relationship with Indonesia is one of our most important. We are linked not just by geography, we are linked by choice,” Albanese said in a televised address of both men.

“We’ve enjoyed a long history of cooperation and friendship, and our relationship is ever deepening and deepened by the strategic and economic interests that we share,” he said.

He added that Indonesia is on track to be one of the world’s five largest economies and that Australia looked forward to revitalising the trade and investment relationship between the two countries.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo greets Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Monday. Photo: Handout via Reuters

He also announced that he planned to work closely with Jokowi to realise the potential of the Indonesia- Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), signed in 2020.