President Joko Widodo meets with Philippine President Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. In this meeting, the two countries agreed to extend and strengthen cooperation that has existed for 75 years. This was marked by the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the two countries. The bilateral agreement offers potential benefits in the environmental, geopolitical, technological, economic and energy fields.
In the economic sector, President Jokowi said the two countries agreed to open trade and market access. In particular, Jokowi asked for Marcos’ support regarding securing trade in coffee products from Indonesia.
“In the economic sector to increase trade, we agreed to continue opening market access and Indonesia asked for support from the Philippines regarding special safeguard measures for Indonesian coffee products,” said Jokowi in a press statement broadcast on the RTV Malacanang Youtube account, Wednesday (10/1/2024).
Furthermore, Jokowi also expressed his appreciation for the Philippines’ trust in Indonesian BUMN in building important infrastructure in the Philippines. Apart from that, Jokowi also emphasized the importance of strengthening and uniting the centrality of ASEAN which continues to adhere to the principles of international law.
“I also appreciate the Philippines’ trust in Indonesian BUMN in building important infrastructure in the Philippines and it is important to speed up the groundbreaking of the Commuter Railway Project,” he explained.
Jokowi asked the Philippines to immediately start construction of the North-South Commuter Railway Project. There are two Indonesian BUMNs participating in the project.
“The President also expressed his appreciation for the Philippines’ trust in Indonesian BUMN to contribute to the development of important infrastructure in the Philippines and encourage the acceleration of the groundbreaking of the North-South Commuter Railway Project,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi in a statement on the official website, Wednesday (10/1/2024 ).
Please note that there are two project contracts won by a joint venture between two Indonesian state-owned companies, namely PT Adhi Karya – PT PP Joint Venture. The announcement of the winner of the first project worth 11.672 billion Pesos or IDR 3.2 trillion was issued on February 17, 2023. Meanwhile, the announcement of the winner of the second project worth 20.92 billion Pesos or around IDR 5.7 trillion was issued on June 26, 2023, so that the total value is almost IDR 9 Trillion.
It is hoped that this cooperation can also contribute to economic growth, job creation and investment attraction, as well as increasing collaborative efforts between the two countries.
January 10, 2024, detikFinance
(https://finance.detik.com/infrastruktur/d-7134601/temui-presiden-filipina-jokowi-minta-proyek-kereta-bumn-segera-groundbreaking)