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JAKARTA: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Tuesday (October 20) that his country will provide 50 billion yen ($ 473 million) in low-interest loans to Indonesia to support its fight against COVID-19.
The offer was made to Indonesian President Joko Widodo during talks at the presidential palace in Bogor, near Jakarta, Kyodo News reported.
The low-interest loans will be used for Indonesia’s measures against natural disasters, in addition to the nearly 32 billion yen in loans granted by Japan in February this year.
This is meant to free up resources from Indonesia to be used in the fight against COVID-19. The Southeast Asian nation has experienced the worst outbreak in the region with more than 360,000 confirmed infections and more than 12,000 related deaths.
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Suga, who is in the second stage of his first overseas trip since taking office, said he also agreed with Widodo to start talks on resuming business travel between their countries and to hold security talks among his defense ministers. and Foreign Relations at an early date.
The Japanese prime minister voiced his support for Southeast Asia’s efforts to achieve peace in the South China Sea, while promoting Japan’s “free and open Indo-Pacific” concept of regional cooperation to counter China.
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Southeast Asia was chosen for his first trip since succeeding Shinzo Abe as prime minister last month in order to demonstrate the importance of the region to Japan.
After holding talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Suga said that Southeast Asian countries are key to achieving Japan’s “free and open Indo-Pacific” or FOIP, and that he told Widodo that “Japan is committed to contribute to peace and prosperity in the region. “
“I fully support the ASEAN perspective on the Indo-Pacific, which Indonesia initiated as it has many fundamental points in common with Japan’s free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said.
Widodo welcomed Japan’s support for Southeast Asian nations, saying that “the spirit of inclusive cooperation should also be promoted in the context of Indo-Pacific cooperation as reflected in the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Outlook. ”.
“I also underscored my hope that the South China Sea can remain a sea of peace and stability,” he said.
Suga arrived in Jakarta on Tuesday afternoon from Hanoi, where he met with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday.
On Wednesday, Suga is scheduled to meet with people associated with Japanese companies and lay a wreath at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery before returning to Tokyo.
