Search

Singapore President Halimah Makes First State Visit to Indonesia

Singapore President Halimah Makes First State Visit to Indonesia

President Halimah Yacob arrived in Indonesia tomorrow for a four-day state visit on February 3 to 6, her first and the first by a Singapore head of state to the country in about eight years, as reported by Channel News Asia.

The President's visit began in Jakarta, the capital, where she met her Indonesian counterpart, Mr Joko Widodo, visited a humanitarian project started by the Singapore International Foundation and met Indonesian religious and interfaith leaders, as well as overseas Singaporeans.

Madam Halimah will also be going to Yogyakarta, a city about an hour's flight east of Jakarta that is known to be a centre of culture and heritage for Indonesia.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singapore President Halimah Yacob inspecting an honour guard at the Bogor Palace on Feb 4, 2020. Image: EPA-EFE
Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Singapore President Halimah Yacob inspecting an honour guard at the Bogor Palace on Feb 4, 2020. Image: EPA-EFE

She will then travel to Yogyakarta, where she will be hosted to dinner by Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

"The President will also have a dialogue with students of Gadjah Mada University and visit BLOCK71@Yogyakarta, a start-up incubation community established by NUS Enterprise in partnership with the Salim Group," Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. 

The visit is at the invitation of President Joko, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement today.

Madam Halimah was speaking at a joint press conference with her Indonesian counterpart President Joko Widodo, held at the Istana in Bogor.

In his remarks, President Joko reaffirmed the close ties between the two countries, and thanked Singapore for its continued support of Indonesia.

They had earlier witnessed the signing of an updated Avoidance of Double Tax Agreement between the two countries.

Singapore's Halimah Yacob (second left) and husband  Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee and President Indonesia's President Joko Widodo (second right) with the First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo (right) in Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Indonesia (4/2/2020). Image: ANTARA FOTO/Hafidz Mubarak A)
Singapore President Halimah Yacob (second left) and husband Mohammed Abdullah Alhabshee and President Indonesian President Joko Widodo (second right) with the First Lady Iriana Joko Widodo (right) in Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java, Indonesia (4/2/2020). Image: ANTARA FOTO/Hafidz Mubarak A)

Continued efforts to strengthen the relationship between Singapore and Indonesia are necessary in the current climate of global economic uncertainty, said Singapore President Halimah Yacob on Tuesday (Feb 4), as reported by The Straits Times.

In affirming the "deep, longstanding and multi-faceted" relationship between the two countries that has spanned over 50 years, Madam Halimah highlighted several areas of cooperation including the economy, human resource development and people-to-people ties.

"As good neighbours, our two countries have reaped opportunities and tackled challenges together," she said.

 

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
View all posts

Terima kasih telah membaca sampai di sini