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Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto to make first state visit to Singapore on June 16
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong meeting Mr Prabowo Subianto, President of the Republic of Indonesia, on Oct 20, 2024. PHOTO: MDDI
Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto to make first state visit to Singapore on June 16
SINGAPORE – Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will make his first state visit to Singapore on June 16.
Mr Prabowo, who took office in October 2024, will receive a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House, said Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) on June 15.
He will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who will host a state banquet in his honour.
Mr Prabowo will also meet Prime Minister Lawrence Wong for the annual Singapore-Indonesia Leaders' Retreat.
The two leaders have met several times since they each took over as heads of government. For PM Wong, that was in May 2024.
PM Wong visited Jakarta in end-October to attend Mr Prabowo's inauguration and joined other invited leaders to personally offer his congratulations. He also made an introductory visit to Jakarta at the start of November.
The pair also met recently on the sidelines of the 46th Asean Summit in May in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
MFA said that as the highest-level platform between the two countries, the annual meeting – in its eighth iteration this year – is 'testament to the excellent bilateral relations and strong interpersonal ties between our leaders'.
This will be the first Leaders' Retreat for both men in their current capacities.
They had attended the Leaders' Retreat hosted by Indonesia in April 2024, when PM Wong was still deputy prime minister, and Mr Prabowo was president-elect.
MFA said PM Wong and Mr Prabowo will review the 'strong and substantive cooperation' between Singapore and Indonesia and chart the way forward.
'Singapore and Indonesia share a longstanding friendship and collaborate closely in key areas such as defence, the green economy, and connectivity,' said the ministry.
Recent milestones include three key agreements to strengthen cooperation in clean energy and sustainable development.
The memorandums of understanding were inked on June 13 during a visit to Jakarta by Dr Tan See Leng, Singapore's Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology, and Dr Bahlil Lahadalia, Indonesia's Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources.
Three landmark pacts between the two countries also officially came into force on March 21, 2024.
The three agreements – which deal with airspace management, defence cooperation and extradition – come under an expanded framework between the two countries.
MFA said Mr Prabowo will be accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sugiono and Minister of Defence Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
He will also be accompanied by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Agriculture Andi Amran Sulaiman, Minister of Investment and Downstream Industry Rosan Roeslani, and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya.
Goh Yan Han is political correspondent at The Straits Times. She writes Unpacked, a weekly newsletter on Singapore politics and policy.
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