"World conditions are not improving, we must face multidimensional crises, including the food crisis, energy crisis, and inflation. Only one option to deal with these challenges: cooperation," President Jokowi said during a meeting with European Council President Charles Michel on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Michel congratulated and lauded Indonesia for organizing G20 activities in the current uncertain situation.
"The European Council fully supports Indonesia's G20 Presidency," he said.
At the meeting, President Jokowi was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Mahfud MD; Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi; and State Secretary Minister Pratikno.
The bilateral meeting was one of the three on the agenda on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit on Saturday, in addition to meetings with the UN Secretary-General and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Jokowi also attended a series of summits with ASEAN speech partners.
In 2021, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Italy, he had discussed global issues with Michel. He had brought up climate change issues and shared the efforts made by Indonesia in terms of reducing deforestation and forest fires and strengthening mangrove rehabilitation.
Currently, the government is striving to accelerate the completion of the Indonesia-European Union Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA).
On September 22, Minister Hartarto held a bilateral meeting with the European Commission's executive vice president and commissioner for trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, to discuss IEU-CEPA and other policy proposals.
"The leaders of both parties have a strong commitment to immediately resolving the issues that are still being discussed in the IEU-CEPA negotiations, especially at the technical level, by involving all stakeholders," Hartarto informed.
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Translator: Indra P, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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