Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Sunday that his visit to Indonesia in just two weeks had shown the importance of his new government in relations between the two countries as it worked to focus more on Southeast Asia.
Albanese was due to leave on Sunday for Indonesia, and is expected to visit the capital Jakarta, where he will hold talks with President Joko Widodo, and Makassar, south of Sulawesi. The Australian delegation will include Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell. “This early visit with a high-level team from Australia shows our Indonesian friends the importance we place in that relationship,” Albanese told reporters in Perth.
The trip comes as Australia‘s new labor government, which ended nearly a decade of rule in the May 21 elections, is focusing more on relations with Southeast Asia and climate change, which is a major issue for its Pacific neighbors, as they roam over more relations. strong China. Indonesia’s visit will mark Albanese ‘second overseas trip since becoming prime minister after attending a summit of Quad leaders in Tokyo in late May.
“My government is committed to better relations in the Indo-Pacific region, which is why you saw us so early this morning, when we were visited by Foreign Minister Wong in the Pacific,” Albanese told reporters. Wong and his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, recently traveled to Pacific Island countries amid growing tensions between Australia and China over influence in the region, and as China seeks a regional security agreement.
Wong, a Malaysian-born, is Australia’s first foreign-born foreign minister and has served in Personnel management positions that have maintained close ties with Southeast Asian neighbors such as Indonesia.
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