STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT. Wahington DC. President Jokowi is scheduled to attend a series of events at the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit on his third day of visit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Starting his agenda, Jokowi received a visit from Air Products Chairman and CEO Seifi Gashemi, before leaving for Capitol Hill to attend a luncheon for the leaders of ASEAN countries by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Congress members. President Jokowi and other ASEAN leaders also attended a meeting with major U.S. businessmen after the luncheon.
Concluding his agenda on Thursday, Jokowi attended a dinner of ASEAN leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House. In addition, there would be a private meeting between ASEAN heads of state and President Biden. However, it is not clear when the meeting will take place. In addition, the United States is known to be holding the 2nd COVID-19 Summit, which aims to build health care resilience and global recovery in the face of a pandemic.
President Jokowi talked about the Russia-Ukraine war at a luncheon for the leaders of ASEAN countries held by U.S. Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Thursday. According to Jokowi, the war had an impact on the world economy, including rising food and energy prices, and causing the inflation. “The war in Ukraine created an extraordinary humanitarian tragedy and had an impact on the global economy,” Jokowi said as quoted from an official statement from the Presidential Secretariat.
President Jokowi on Thursday invited the United States to join efforts to foster peace, stability, and mutually beneficial inclusive cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. “Since 2019, ASEAN has agreed on the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, preserving the region’s peace and stability. I invite the United States to continue to be an anchor of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Jokowi said. Jokowi said ASEAN has enjoyed peace and stability for more over five decades. He added ASEAN member states are also working hard to create a regional architecture that values cooperation.
A bilateral meeting between Indonesian Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi and U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday local time resulted in an agreement between ASEAN and the U.S. to pioneer cooperation in the digital economy. In addition to the bilateral framework, the meeting also discussed several regional and multilateral economic issues. Digital economy cooperation, representing the Fair and Resilient Trade pillar of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), became one of the main topics of the meeting.
President Jokowi will head to Texas to meet with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, a government official has confirmed, as the Indonesian leader began his three-day visit to the U.S. this week. Jokowi and several of his top ministers arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening local time ahead of the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit on Thursday and Friday. Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah confirmed the meeting with Musk as one of the few appointments with CEOs that the President had lined up during his stay.
President Jokowi and other ASEAN leaders on Thursday met with U.S. businessmen at the Intercontinental the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. Jokowi said Indonesia, as G20 President, sought to ensure that the G20 could serve as a catalyst for global economic recovery, particularly for the advancement of developing countries.
He expressed hope CEOs of major U.S. corporations can forge concrete cooperation in the G20 and with ASEAN, particularly with Indonesia. Jokowi added Indonesia’s prospective strength lies in the provision of industrial raw materials, green energy, and the digital economy. “We invite U.S. businesses to invest in Indonesia,” said Jokowi.
President Jokowi on Thursday met with Air Products Chairman and CEO Seifi Ghasemi at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Washington D.C. According to an official statement from the Presidential Secretariat, Jokowi underlined the importance of carrying out the company’s investment plan, expecting that it will be fully implemented.
Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia stated that the first US$ 7 billion or Rp 10.2 trillion of Air Products’ US$ 15 billion investment plan had been realized. He said that the company’s investments include a DME project, methanol in Balongan, methanol construction plans in Cepu, and a hydrogen project utilizing state-owned dams.
According to a statement issued by the US Embassy in Jakarta on Thursday, the United States, Indonesia, Belize, Germany, and Senegal will co-host the 2nd Global COVID-19 Summit to double the efforts of the first COVID-19 Summit, which focuses on four main goals: recommitting to a global response, vaccinating the world, protecting the most vulnerable, and preventing future disasters.
At the Tempo Bilateral Forum 2022 on Thursday, Ambassador Kim said that COVID-19 will not be the last or biggest global health threat, so that it is important to invest in the resilience of our global health infrastructure. He said the United States supports Indonesia’s G20 prioritization of global health architecture, adding that President Biden has requested over $28 billion in the next national budget be directed towards global health, health systems, and health security.
The United States is preparing a scaled-back version of a trade pact as Southeast Asian nations gather in Washington, where President Joe Biden is seeking to show solid commitment in the face of a rising China. Kurt Campbell, the top White House official on Asia, said the U.S. would raise areas of cooperation with ASEAN leaders including fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and disaster relief.
He also said he expected “substantial interest” by Southeast Asian nations in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the latest acronym-branded U.S. trade initiative, which was mentioned late last year by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Indonesia. “We’re quite confident that we’re going to be able to have a substantial launch with a very broad range of potential players,” Campbell said at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
In the midst of the Ukraine war which is Washington’s top foreign policy priority, President Joe Biden is hosting Southeast Asian leaders in Washington — signaling U.S. commitment to the region where it is engaged in a tussle for dominance with China.
Some critical issues — like the post-Covid economicrevival, climate change and the Myanmar coup — will be on the table at the two-day meeting starting Thursday. Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a bloc of 10 countries that together make up the world’s seventh-largest economy, will be there. Security issues will likely be on the table at the summit, Ong Keng Yong, former secretary-general of ASEAN, told CNBC.
U.S. President Joe Biden will host the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Washington, D.C. from May 12–13, 2022, for a U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit. The Special Summit will demonstrate the United States’ enduring commitment to ASEAN, recognize its central role in delivering sustainable solutions to the region’s most pressing challenges, and commemorate 45 years of US-ASEAN relations, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta said in a statement on Wednesday.
The Special Summit will build on President Biden’s participation in the October 2021 U.S.-ASEAN Summit, and expand U.S. engagement with ASEAN on COVID-19 recovery and health security, fighting the climate crisis, stimulating economic growth, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, and deepening people-to-people ties, the embassy added.
Regarding the U.S.-ASEAN Special Summit, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Sung Kim, said that the United States remains committed to an ASEAN-centered regional architecture at the heart of the Indo-Pacific and supports ASEAN’s strong, unified, and constructive role in addressing regional issues. Ambassador Kim also offered his thoughts on a U.S.-Indonesia partnership that is strong and dynamic, and matters deeply to both countries and beyond.
