Macron tries to promote his 'third way' in Indonesia
Emmanuel Macron departed Indonesia on Thursday, May 29, hand in hand with his wife, Brigitte, bidding farewell from the presidential A330 to his host, Prabowo Subianto. The French president was concluding the second leg of a Southeast Asian tour that had taken him to Vietnam earlier in the week and would take him to Singapore, where he was set to open the Shangri-La Dialogue, a summit on industry and defense, on Friday. Alongside the ceremonial honors extended by the Indonesian president, Macron secured a collection of partnership promises and business commitments, in areas from agri-food to cinema, allowing France to tap into what he called the "new Indonesian wave."
The Elysée said "€17 billion in contracts" were signed in Jakarta, without disclosing any details about the deals. In the defense sector, Paris had hoped to sell additional Rafale fighter jets, following an order of 42 aircraft in 2022. For now, Indonesia only signed a letter of intent on Wednesday, committing to purchase "additional Rafales from Dassault, as well as light frigates, Scorpène submarines from Naval Group and Caesar cannons and their munitions from KNDS France," Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on X (formerly Twitter).
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