Good morning. It was an amazing experience, and I consider it a great honour that President (Jokowi) invited me to ride a bamboo bike with him to this beautiful place in the botanical garden
Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) invited Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to ride bamboo bicycles together at the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, as part of an official welcome.

The president stated that the weather was ideal for cycling in the morning in addition to the fact that the bicycles were also an eco-friendly vehicular mode of traveling.

"(This is) because the weather is good and the bike is eco-friendly, (so) I think we should start promoting the idea) of the importance of environmentally friendly vehicles. As for the third, this is indeed the route I usually take for workouts," Jokowi noted in an official statement received here on Monday.


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Jokowi and Albanese were seen cycling together towards Resto Raasaa at the Bogor Botanical Gardens after the duo conducted tree planting activities.

The bamboo bicycles they rode were designed for road use. The bicycles, with oval bamboo cross sections, were created by Singgih S. Kartono from Temanggung District, Central Java.

Prime Minister Albanese said that cycling with Jokowi at the Bogor Botanical Gardens was a splendid experience and a great honor.

"Good morning. It was an amazing experience, and I consider it a great honour that President (Jokowi) invited me to ride a bamboo bike with him to this beautiful place in the botanical garden," Albanese stated at the Bogor Presidential Palace on Monday.


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He considered the cycling activity to be emblematic of the friendship between Australia and Indonesia. Albanese added that President Jokowi had even offered for him to take the bamboo bike he rode back to Australia.

"The president has offered (for me) to take the bike back to Australia, and you will see me riding the only bamboo bike in Canberra. However, it was an amazing experience; and every time I ride a bike, I will remember the friendship with President Widodo," the recently-officiated prime minister remarked.

After cycling together, they both conversed in the white stone garden area of Resto Raasaa, Bogor Botanical Gardens.

Jokowi and Albanese spoke for about 30 minutes before returning to the Bogor Presidential Palace aboard a golf cart, and a bilateral meeting was thereafter conducted between the two countries.


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Translator: Mentari D G, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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