JAKARTA: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo conducted a bilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sideline of the G20 Summit in Bali on Monday. Jokwoi conveyed his appreciation for Biden’s attendance in Bali.
“Joe Biden, welcome to Bali, welcome to Indonesia. I truly appreciate your presence at the G20 Summit. Once again I appreciate your presence here,” Jokowi said opening his dialogue with the US President as broadcasted by the Presidential Secretariate’s office’s Youtube channel on Monday.
The two leaders discussed various issues in the brief meeting, including global economic conditions and hopes for what the G20 Summit will produce.
“I hope that the G20 Summit can lead to cooperation, which can help the global economic recovery,” said Jokowi.
Meanwhile, President Biden expressed his gratitude for President Jokowi’s remarks and also conveyed his hopes of seeing a future technology that will prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and other infectious diseases.
Accompanying Jokowi in the bilateral meeting were Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, and Minister of SOEs Erick Thohir.
After meeting with Jokowi on the sidelines of the G20 meeting, the White House confirmed that President Biden would have a dialogue with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
This communication will be the first for the two leaders face-to-face, amid escalating tensions caused by the trade war and mounting geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific region. It is believed that the United States still wants to keep the dialogue open, regardless of the differences. The White House said Xi and Joe Biden’s talks in Bali could take hours.
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