Wahyu Dwi Anggoro
IDXChannel - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) met today in Sydney for the Australia-Indonesia Annual Leaders’ Meeting.
During the meeting, the leaders discussed the opportunities for both countries from the global transition towards electric vehicles on the road to net zero emissions. They directed officials to advance cooperation and collaboration on this vital matter.
In recognition of the urgent challenge of climate change, Prime Minister Albanese announced a AU$50 million initiative under the Australia-Indonesia Climate and Infrastructure Partnership to attract private climate finance to Indonesia. The leaders also welcomed Export Finance Australia’s plan to establish a US$200 million capital financing facility with PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) to support Indonesia’s energy transition.
While trade ties have recovered since, with exports from Australia to Indonesia reaching AU$14.6 billion in 2022, the two leaders agreed that there is more to be done to increase economic integration and two-way investment. They welcomed a number of new commercial deals between Australian and Indonesian business across the health, mining and digital economy sectors.
They also discussed new initiatives to enable more Australian and Indonesian professionals to work in each country. This includes improved visa offerings for Indonesian business people and frequent travellers, mutual professional recognition for engineers and new pathways to support skills exchange under the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA).
