Prime Minister Ishiba's Remarks at the Joint Press Occasion with President Prabowo of Indonesia

On this, my first bilateral trip since becoming prime minister, I have visited first Malaysia and now Indonesia. I wish to thank first of all President Prabowo and also the people of Indonesia for the wholehearted welcome and hospitality I have received here.

Now as we begin this new year of 2025, we face an international situation that is both progressively complex and increasingly uncertain. And yet even against such a backdrop, Southeast Asia continues to attain vigorous economic development as the growth center of the globe. Japan regards building up our cooperation with the Southeast Asia region as one of our priorities diplomatically.

In particular, Indonesia, at a place of strategic importance where the Indian and Pacific Oceans meld with each other, is a driver of this growth center and a comprehensive strategic partner sharing fundamental values and principles with Japan. Japan wants to cooperate closely with our longstanding friend Indonesia to lead the world to cooperation through the realization of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) and the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).

During this visit, today President Prabowo and I enjoyed a very candid exchange of views concerning a broad span of topics and we cultivated a relationship of trust between us in a very thoroughgoing way. I find this extremely meaningful.

As for our bilateral relations, with regard to the area of security, we agreed to launch a defense consultation between defense officials of both countries on maritime security, including defense equipment and technology cooperation. We also agreed to strengthen our bilateral strategic dialogue, including our agreement that Japan will provide high-speed patrol boats through our first-ever Official Security Assistance to Indonesia, and our like-mindedness on holding a Japan-Indonesia Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting (“2+2”).

In the area of the economy, we agreed to strengthen cooperation on the stable supply of energy. In order to support Indonesia's sustained development, we confirmed our cooperation in the area of decarbonization and energy, such as the Muara Laboh Geothermal Power Project, under the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC), hydrogen, ammonia, and biofuels, as well as in the area of critical minerals. We aim to advance resource and infrastructure cooperation to ensure energy security and achieve decarbonization through various pathways.

With respect to President Prabowo's desire to provide highly nutritious school meals to the children of Indonesia, in addition to utilizing Japan's experience to conduct training on how to provide school meals and dispatch experts, we will also implement a cooperation package that supports the development of fisheries and agriculture.

In addition, 20 years have now passed since the massive earthquake off the coast of Sumatra and the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which wrought tremendous damage. Indonesia and Japan are countries that meet with many natural disasters, and in the area of disaster management, during our meeting, President Prabowo and I agreed to further advance our cooperation.

The relationship between Japan and Indonesia is supported by people-to-people exchanges. We will further promote cooperation, including in human resource development, and strengthen our friendly and cooperative ties.

In this way President Prabowo and I deepened our bilateral ties while also exchanging our views regarding a wide array of subjects, including regional affairs and cooperation in the international arena. We also reconfirmed the importance of maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law.

We also agreed to strengthen our cooperation further in the international arena, including with regard to Indonesia's potential accession to the OECD.

This was my second time to have face-to-face summit talks with President Prabowo. I consider our meeting to have served as an important opportunity as we take a step forward towards the further development of Japan-Indonesia relations. I myself will continue to engage proactively in a deepening of our bilateral relations.

I wish to once again express my great appreciation for the welcome I received during this visit. I also hope to have the chance for us in Japan to extend our warm welcome to many Indonesians at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai when it opens later this year. Next time, I wish to invite President Prabowo to Japan and I look forward to welcoming him heartily at that time.

Terima kasih. (Thank you.)