President Departs for Belgium to Attend 45th Anniversary Summit of ASEAN-EU
President Joko Widodo and Mrs. Iriana Joko Widodo departed for Belgium to attend the ASEAN-EU 45th Commemoration Summit. From Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang City, the President and his entourage took off using a Garuda Indonesia-1 Boeing 777 aircraft on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at around 09.00 WIB.
"This morning, I and the First Lady and also a limited delegation will go to Brussels in Belgium in order to attend the ASEAN-EU Summit in the context of 45 years of relations between ASEAN and the European Union," said the President in his statement before taking off.
The Head of State said that the European Union is ASEAN's third largest trading partner after the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the United States. Total ASEAN-EU trade in 2021 will reach USD 268.9 billion.
Meanwhile, the European Union's foreign direct investment (FDI) to ASEAN will reach USD 26 billion in 2021. The European Union is the second largest source of FDI in ASEAN after China.
"This is why we continue to strengthen, we continue to improve good relations between ASEAN and the European Union. Of course, our country Indonesia wants our trade to increase between Indonesia and the EU and investment from the European Union to Indonesia also continues to increase," he explained.
During his visit this time, President Jokowi will be in Belgium for less than 24 hours. After all activities in Belgium are finished, the Head of State will immediately return to Indonesia.
Accompanying the President and Mrs. Iriana on the flight to Brussels, Belgium were Minister of State Secretary Pratikno, Military Secretary to the President Rear Admiral TNI Hersan, Commander Paspampres Marsda TNI Wahyu Hidayat Sudjatmiko, and Deputy for Protocol, Press and Media Secretariat President BeyMachmudin.
Meanwhile, a number of ministers were already in Belgium, namely the Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi, and Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.