President Joko Widodo Arrivves in Sydney

President Joko Widodo and First Lady Iriana land in rainy conditions and clutch umbrellas on the Sydney airport tarmac

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Sydney, 28 Jumadil Awwal 1438/25 Feebruary 2017 (MINA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo has touched down in Sydney ahead of bilateral talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Australian business leaders.

The president and First Lady Iriana Widodo arrived on Saturday morning in rainy conditions and clutching umbrellas as they greeted Australian officials on the airport tarmac.

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Improving trade and investment ties is expected to be a key focus of Mr Widodo’s two-day state visit to Australia.

The Indonesian president will meet with business leaders including representatives from Blackmores, Macquarie Bank and BlueScope Steel in the afternoon.

He will also hold talks with NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian before a private dinner at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Point Piper mansion, overlooking Sydney Harbour.

The pair will discuss progress on an Indonesian-Australian free trade deal set to be finalised by the end of the year, perhaps as early as August.

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Indonesian trade officials were in Canberra last week for the fourth round of free trade negotiations since March last year.

“Our relationship with Indonesia is growing deeper by the day but it has not yet reached its full potential,” Mr Turnbull said in an opinion piece in Sydney Morning Herald, pointing out that Australia trades more with Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand compared to Indonesia.

AAP understands there are no insurmountable sticking points, unlike Australia’s negotiations with the European Union, (EU) where agriculture tariffs cuts are proving tricky.

Australia Institute research director Rod Campbell hopes the two leaders discuss climate change and coal.

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Indonesia is seeking to dramatically boost coal-fired power generation in coming years despite its pledge to cut carbon emissions to 29 per cent from business-as-usual levels by 2030.

Mr Widodo was due to visit Australia last year but this was postponed after mass protests erupted in Jakarta over comments its Christian governor made about the Koran. (T/RS05/RS01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)

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