Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) landed at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Base, Jakarta, on Thursday at 4:15 a.m. local time after wrapping up his official visit to Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
According to a statement received here from his secretariat, Jokowi was personally welcomed by Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) General Agus Subiyanto and Chief of the Indonesian National Police (Polri) General Listyo Sigit Prabowo.
State Secretariat Minister Pratikno, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, and State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir, among others, accompanied the president during his flight from Zayed International Airport of Abu Dhabi.
Jokowi made the most of his visit to the Gulf state to meet with his UAE counterpart, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), with the objective of intensifying the Indonesia-UAE economic ties.
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Minister Marsudi had stated earlier in Abu Dhabi that the UAE had been one of the most important partners of Indonesia in the Middle East, adding that President Jokowi highlighted the significant progress made by the two countries in their relations in the last decade.
"In terms of trade, for instance, we have registered a significant increase. During the 2015-2023 period, the trade value increased by 52 percent. In 2023, the value totaled US$3.282 billion," she noted.
Marsudi remarked that during his meeting with MBZ, Jokowi discussed various matters related to the economy and investment, such as the plan to jointly develop a financial center in Indonesia's new capital city Nusantara. The two governments have signed a related memorandum of understanding.
The minister further remarked that the two heads of state also discussed the potential for cooperation in developing the nickel industry.
She underlined that Indonesia wields the world's largest nickel reserves and has been striving to capitalize on this potential by developing a suitable ecosystem for the production of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
"President Jokowi invited the UAE to place capital in the EV industry from the upstream to the downstream sectors," she noted.
In addition, Jokowi personally invited MBZ to pay him a return visit to Indonesia in September this year.
