VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

President Joko Widodo and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga agreed to form an essential business travel corridor between Indonesia and Japan during their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, on Tuesday.

“We have also agreed to assign our respective foreign ministers to negotiate detailed points of the travel corridor arrangement, and reach the approved draft in one month,” President Jokowi said.

Prior to the agreement on the travel corridor arrangement with Japan, Indonesia has entered into similar deals with China, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, and Singapore.

At the bilateral meeting, the two leaders discussed their collective endeavors to keep strengthening their strategic economic partnership.

President Jokowi said PM Suga's visit reflects Indonesia and Japan's commitment to strengthening their strategic partnership, and the importance of the Southeast Asian region amid the current global situation, which is marked by uncertainty.

Despite the global situation, both Indonesia and Japan have opted to collaborate and support each other, he remarked.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Suga said he was extremely happy to have been able to visit Indonesia in his first official overseas trip since his election as Japan's prime minister on September 16, 2020.

He said Japan is committed to working closely with Indonesia for the sake of peace and prosperity in the Southeast Asian region based on the two countries' strategic partnership, which has been strengthened by his visit.

Prime Minister Suga's visit to Indonesia in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is the first visit by a world leader to the country.

After his election following Shinzo Abe's surprise resignation, Suga's first overseas visit has been to Vietnam and Indonesia.

Before arriving in Indonesia, Prime Minister Suga visited Hanoi, the capital city of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, on October 18, 2020.

According to the Japanese prime minister's official website, he attended a welcoming ceremony on October 19, 2020 (local time), and followed it up with a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Afterwards, the leaders held an exchange of documents ceremony and a joint press announcement in relation to grant assistance. During his visit, Prime Minister Suga also met with Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam.

He also enjoyed a stroll with Prime Minister Phuc at the late President Ho Chi Minh's Stilt House. In the afternoon, he gave a policy speech at the Vietnam-Japan University and engaged in a frank and candid discussion with students.

Suga offered flowers at the Martyrs' Monument and the President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum before meeting with several top figures, including Mdm. Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, chairwoman of the National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.

Later, the Japanese premier held a press conference on the Japan-Vietnam summit and other events.