19 hours ago
Indonesia President Prabowo to visit Singapore for Leaders' Retreat
[SINGAPORE] Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto will be making a state visit to Singapore on Monday (Jun 16), in his first official visit to the Republic since his inauguration on Oct 20 last year.
Accompanied by a delegation of ministers, Prabowo will meet Prime Minister Lawrence Wong for the eighth annual Singapore-Indonesia Leaders' Retreat, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Sunday.
The Leader's Retreat is the highest-level platform between the two countries to discuss how to strengthen ties.
While here, Prabowo will also call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who will host him at a state banquet.
This is the first time both PM Wong and Prabowo are attending the Leader's Retreat in their current capacities – but not the first time they are meeting at the event.
For last year's Leader's Retreat on Apr 29, held at Indonesia's Bogor state palace, PM Wong accompanied then-prime minister Lee Hsien Loong, in his capacity as deputy prime minister.
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There, they met Indonesia's then-president Joko Widodo and Prabowo – who was then president-elect. The leaders discussed topics ranging from cooperation in defence, the digital economy and the green economy, to potential investments in Indonesia's new capital of Nusantara in East Kalimantan.
At this year's Leader's Retreat, PM Wong and President Prabowo are expected to review the close ties between Singapore and Indonesia, and discuss how to deepen cooperation in areas such as defence, the green economy and connectivity, MFA said.
Ahead of the visit, Singapore and Indonesia on Friday signed three memorandums of understanding on cross-border electricity trade, carbon capture and storage, and a sustainable industrial zone.
These were signed by Singapore's Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng and Indonesia's Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia during the former's visit to Jakarta.
Strong bilateral ties
Singapore and Indonesia share a 'longstanding friendship', said MFA, noting that both countries have been collaborating closely with each other on a variety of bilateral issues.
One such area in which progress has been made is the Expanded Framework Agreements, which entered into force on Mar 21, 2024.
These comprise agreements dealing with air space management, defence cooperation and extradition of fugitives.
The countries also have deep economic and people-to-people ties.
Indonesia is Singapore's eight-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade of S$74.2 billion last year, indicated Singapore Department of Statistics data.
The Republic has also been Indonesia's top source of foreign direct investments since 2014, clocking US$20.1 billion worth of such investments last year.
Both countries are among each other's top source of visitor arrivals. Last year, Singapore had 2.49 million visitors from Indonesia, while Indonesia welcomed 1.4 million tourists from Singapore in 2023.
