Image source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia

The bilateral meeting of President Joko Widodo with the Premier of the People's Republic of China (PRC) Li Qiang on Friday, September 8, 2023, at the Merdeka Palace has resulted in the commitment of both countries to boost economic and trade ties, a senior official said. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, who accompanied President Widodo to the meeting, informed the press that US$21.7 billion in investment pledges have been agreed upon. 

The investment commitment concluded in six bilateral agreements that range from cooperation in e-commerce to industry, agriculture, fisheries, science and technology, and the innovation sector. 

In the meeting, Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed the need to follow up on agreements that have been reached, particularly the $44.89 investment agreed upon during his visit to Chengdu in July. 

"The President hopes that the realization will be carried out soon," Minister Marsudi said shortly after the meeting, as quoted by Antara News. 

Additionally, several other agreements were also struck during the premier's official visit. The Implementing Agreement on the Financing Facilitation for the China-Indonesia "Two Countries, Twin Parks" initiative is one of them. 

Premier Li said that China and Indonesia will collaborate further to make the initiative as a new flagship project of Belt and Road cooperation materialize, China’s state-run Xinhua reported. 

The initiative, which is being managed under the synergy of Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum and the Belt and Road Initiative, aims to become a bridge for Indonesian and Chinese companies to work together. 

Indonesia and China are the two members of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries, which in recent decades have been known to have intimate economic relations. 

Premier Li arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday to accept the invitation to attend the three-day ASEAN summit and meet with Indonesian officials. 

Several days before the bilateral meeting, Premier Li took a test ride on Indonesia’s new $7.3 billion high-speed rail line – a project that is largely funded by China. The Indonesian Transportation Ministry said the line would be operational on October 1 of this year. 

During the bilateral meeting, Premiere Li ensured that China is willing to work with Indonesia to get the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway up and running successfully.