President Widodo accompanied by First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo received the visiting Australian prime minister and his wife Lucy at the State Palace in Jakarta on Thursday.
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Security arrangements for Turnbull’s market visit worsened traffic congestion in the city centre, but Jakartans didn’t appear to hold it against the Australian prime minister and gave him a warm welcome.
More turbulence occurred when Indonesia protested Australia’s policy of turning back boats laden with asylum seekers.
The prime minister will head to Berlin after Jakarta to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel, before joining world leaders at the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey.
As military tensions between Beijing, Washington and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations mount in the South China Sea, a stable relationship between Indonesia and Australia is needed.
Indonesia has no travel restrictions on foreign journalists in its easternmost province of Papua, the country’s security chief said on Wednesday, vowing to dismiss any police officials who blocked such freedom.
The meeting came during Turnbull’s first official visit to Indonesia since taking office in September.
“The closer we are, the higher the intensity in our relationship, and the higher also the potential for frictions”, Widodo said at the presidential palace at the beginning of their meeting.
It’s monthly “snapshot” of the thoughts of more than 400 businesses released on Friday found 35 per cent thought the new prime minister would have a positive impact.
The trade visit will take to 10 the number of cabinet members who have visited Jakarta since the April executions of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan. Much ongoing government-to-government work in recent months has helped return relations to a level amiable enough for Turnbull to make the visit.
Australia and Indonesia lie next to each other in the southern Asia-Pacific region, a geopolitically significant area. His vow to focus the nation’s foreign policy on “more Jakarta, less Geneva” were derailed shortly after coming to power in 2013 when media reports revealed that Australia’s intelligence services had tapped the phone of then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, left, walks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo during their visit at Tanah Abang Market in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, November 12, 2015. “Now we are going to the very good relations, we are going back to the path that we have to go to”.
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Malcolm Turnbull is starting a two week overseas trip with a meeting with Indonesia’s president. However, his warm reception in Jakarta this week, his business focus for engagement, and his timing at a transitional stage of Jokowi’s presidency, indicate an opportunity to build warmer, stronger ties during the two leaders’ terms.
