Minister Airlangga Hartarto Boosts Economic Cooperation in Marathon Meetings with Singapore Leaders

Singapore, INTI – Following the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Ministerial Meeting and the IPEF Clean Economy Investor Forum (June 5-6, 2024), Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, quickly leveraged the momentum to advance economic cooperation. On Friday, June 7, he began the day with a breakfast meeting with Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Gan Kim Yong before they co-chaired the 6th Bilateral Working Group Meeting between Indonesia and Singapore.

During the bilateral meeting, both leaders discussed agreements on technical discussions between the two countries, organized into six working groups: Special Economic Zone, Investment, Manpower, Transportation, Agri-Business, and Tourism. Minister Airlangga and DPM Gan led the discussions, resulting in concrete outcomes across these areas.

Following the Bilateral Working Group session, Minister Airlangga continued discussions with DPM Gan during lunch, focusing on the sustainability of various economic cooperation programs agreed upon in bilateral, regional, and multilateral forums.

After meeting with DPM Gan, Minister Airlangga proceeded to The Istana, the office of the President of Singapore, for a meeting with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and subsequently with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

In a warm and extended meeting at The Istana, Minister Airlangga and President Tharman discussed issues related to the green revolution and agriculture, with support from Temasek for developing a modern food system, among other geo-economic topics.

Following the meeting with President Tharman, Minister Airlangga met with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI). They reviewed the results from the Bilateral Working Group discussions and addressed various economic cooperation issues, including Singapore's support for Indonesia's accession to the OECD and its membership in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The nearly hour-long meeting was highly productive, covering numerous aspects of future cooperation.

In a remarkable day of back-to-back meetings, Minister Airlangga successfully concluded the annual Bilateral Working Group session and held discussions with three of Singapore's top leaders.

The day started with a meeting with DPM Gan Kim Yong, who also serves as Minister for Trade and Industry and head of the Central Bank, followed by a four-eye meeting with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and ended with an extensive session with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

Accompanying Minister Airlangga in these significant meetings were Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs Susiwijono Moegiarso, Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Suryopratomo, and expert teams from the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs.

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