President Jokowi meets with Vietnamese PM in Jakarta

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) met with Vietnamese Prime Minister (PM) Pham Minh Chinh at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Monday, to discuss potential cooperation in developing the electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem by private actors.

According to the Presidential Secretariat’s Press, Media, and Information Bureau on Monday evening in Jakarta, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi accompanied the head of state during the discussion.

“Both leaders favored the development of the electric vehicle ecosystem by the private sector and promoted the establishment of cooperation between SOEs (state-owned enterprises) of the two countries,” Marsudi noted, as cited from the bureau’s statement.

Jokowi and Pham held the meeting a day prior to the holding of the 43rd Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that will take place in Jakarta on September 5-7 under Indonesia’s chairmanship in the bloc.

A total of 19 state leaders will attend the summit that constitutes the second summit to be hosted by Indonesia this year, following the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, in May, where the bloc’s leaders issued the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Developing the Regional Electric Vehicle Ecosystem.

During their meeting, both leaders pushed for the establishment and concrete implementation of cooperation in the maritime and fishery sectors in addition to electric vehicles.

“The Vietnamese PM invited Mr President to come visit Vietnam. Both of them promoted the realization of sustainable cooperation in the maritime and fishery (sectors),” Minister Marsudi remarked.

To start realizing fishery cooperation, President Jokowi urged both countries to immediately ink a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on relevant matters, she remarked.

“Mr President pushed for the immediate signing of a fishery (MoU) that will serve as the foundation for sustainable fishery management cooperation,” she explained.

Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD, Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung also joined the bilateral meeting at the palace.