Indonesia’s Industry Minister, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, has announced that Japanese Emperor Naruhito will be visiting Indonesia in the coming weeks, according to reporting from Jakarta Globe.
“I would like to convey my appreciation and a warm welcome for the upcoming official visit by His Excellency Emperor Naruhito to Indonesia within the following weeks,” Agus told the 2023 ASEAN-Japan Business Week in Tokyo earlier this week.
Kyodo News earlier reported that Naruhito’s trip to Indonesia would take place in the latter half of June. This would mark his first official goodwill visit since his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne as the nation’s 126th emperor in 2019, say Jakarta Globe.
Jokowi previously met with Naruhito at the Tokyo Imperial Palace in July 2022. Jokowi asked the Japanese emperor for an official visit to Indonesia during that 30-minute meeting, according to the State Secretariat.
Jakarta Globe report that government data shows Indonesia-Japan trade amounted to USD 42-billion in 2022. The two nations are in talks about revising their existing trade deal, namely the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA), which has been in effect since July 2008.
Jokowi recently told Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that he hoped the negotiations on the revised IJEPA could reach a conclusion this September. In 2019, Indonesia-Japan concluded a general review of the IJEPA. The two countries are working towards settling the deal’s amendment protocols as a follow-up to the general review. Indonesia is relying on the revised IJEPA to earn greater market access for its canned tunas, say Jakarta Globe.
Jokowi also said that his country had given flexibility for Fukushima’s agricultural products, and it expects Japan to do the same for Indonesian tropical fruits.
“I call for Japan’s flexibility on expanding the market access for Indonesia’s tropical fruits, including mangoes,” Jokowi told Kishida on the sidelines of the recent G7 Summit in Hiroshima.
Japan is a major foreign investor in Indonesia. The government reported that Japan invested a total of USD 3.56-billion in Indonesia last year.
Source: Jakarta Globe
