President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will meet his Singaporean counterpart Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Monday in Semarang, Central Java, for a leaders’ retreat, during which they will discuss efforts to further enhance the economic relationship between the neighbouring countries.
President Jokowi and his entourage left Jakarta on Monday morning on the presidential aircraft and were later scheduled to meet Lee for a tête-à-tête at the Wisma Perdamaian building in Semarang, located some 450 kilometers east of the capital.
The leaders, accompanied by their spouses, are also scheduled to witness the signing of several memorandums of understanding (MoU) to mark various cooperations initiated by their governments.
Photo GalleryPM Lee and Jokowi meet in Semarang for leaders’ retreat
After lunch, President Jokowi and Prime Minister Lee will move to the neighbouring Kendal regency to inaugurate the Kendal Industrial Park, an industrial complex equipped with real estate facilities developed by a joint venture between Jakarta-listed industrial estate developer Jababeka and Singapore-based Sembcorp Development.
The integrated township, known by its commercial name “Park by the Bay”, will accommodate manufacturing companies in industries such as furniture, food, bicycles and building materials on a plot of 2,700 hectares, equivalent to more than 4,000 football fields.
“President Jokowi and PM Lee Hsien Loong are also scheduled to inspect [the facility] before returning to Semarang,” Presidential Press Bureau chief Bey Machmudin said on Monday.
President Jokowi and his entourage, which includes Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya and Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) head Thomas Lembong, will fly back to Jakarta in the evening.
