Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) met the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed (MBZ) bin Sultan Al Nahyan, at the Al Shatie Palace, Abu Dhabi, on Friday.

Jokowi arrived at the palace around 1.30 p.m. local time. Thereafter, he had a joint photo session and attended a bilateral meeting between the delegations of the two nations.

In his introductory remarks, Jokowi lauded the UAE President for the friendly relationship between Indonesia and the UAE, which has continued to improve in the midst of the current challenging situation.

"Thank you for accepting us in the midst of a challenging situation like today. We continue to work together to improve relations between the two countries," he said.

The two leaders also exchanged memorandum of understanding (MoU) documents for cooperation in the fields of trade, climate change, health, maritime and fisheries, defense, education, and ports.

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During the meeting, President Widodo was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi; Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto; Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Erick Thohir; Minister of Trade, Zulkifli Hasan; Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung; head of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Authority, Bambang Susantono; chair of the Indonesia Investment Authority (INA), Ridha Wirakusumah; and Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE, Husin Bagis.

After visiting Ukraine and Russia, Jokowi arrived in the UAE to discuss economic cooperation and investment as part of a working visit.

In a press statement before taking off from Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, on June 26, 2022, Jokowi had said that the UAE will be the last country he will visit after attending the G7 Summit in Germany.

After the summit, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin separately to discuss global peace and the food supply chain disruption due to the conflict between the two countries.

"I would like to resume discussions with the U AE on economic cooperation and investment between Indonesia and the UAE," he noted in the press statement.

UAE’s Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Suhail Mohammed Al Mazroei; Ambassador Husin Bagis; the UAE Ambassador to Indonesia, Abdullah Aldhaheri; Indonesian Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto; and defense attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh, Brigadier General Putut Witjaksono Hadi, welcomed President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana in the UAE.

After the working visit to the UAE, Jokowi and his entourage were scheduled to return to Indonesia on Friday afternoon local time.

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Translator: Indra A, Azis Kurmala
Editor: Suharto
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