[BOGOR] Exploring opportunities in the green economy – including investing in the sustainable development of Indonesia’s new capital Nusantara – were among the many issues that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo discussed at their final leaders’ retreat on Monday (Apr 29).

They noted that cross-border electricity trading, clean energy power generation, carbon capture and storage as well as carbon credits were some future areas of cooperation that the smallest and largest countries in South-east Asia could work together on in the coming years.

One potential avenue to accelerate power trading is for Indonesia state-owned utility company PLN and Singapore power grid operator SP Group to build power cables, said PM Lee.

In September last year, both countries inked an agreement that will allow Singapore to import 2 gigawatts of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia.

In addition to progress on that front, Widodo said at a joint press conference earlier in the day that Singapore companies – 29 in total – have expressed interest in investing in Nusantara, which officials previously stated would be developed into a green capital city.

PM Lee said that moving the capital from Jakarta to Nusantara – set to take place later this year – is a project close to Widodo’s heart and he is glad that Singapore “has been able to participate in it”.

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One of the companies participating is Sembcorp Industries, which entered into a joint venture with PLN to build a large-scale integrated solar project to supply clean energy in Nusantara.

Widodo said that he looks forward to the development of solar power projects across the new capital.

At the same press conference, PM Lee said that Singapore looks forward to Indonesia driving the growth of South-east Asia’s green economy, an emerging field which both leaders recognised would have enormous potential for both countries.

They also signed a memorandum of understanding at the retreat to collaborate on community empowerment activities related to mangrove ecosystems in Indonesia.

And PM Lee suggested that both countries could expand their cooperation to carbon credits next.

“(Indonesia) is our biggest neighbour, (and) it’s almost our closest neighbour. We have a lot of to-ings and fro-ings with them,” PM Lee told the Singapore reporters.

“Over the last 20 years and the last 10 years, we’ve been able to do a lot together to keep the relationship in good shape. This means we have resolved problems, we have moved forward on cooperation, and we have specific projects which are yielding results.”

He said that the bilateral relationship remains a “very important” one for Singapore. “And I hope, from Indonesia’s point of view, that they find it a valuable relationship to them too,” he said.

Economic ties have been one of the main pillars of the relationship between both countries, with Singapore being the top foreign investor in Indonesia since 2014.

Investments from Singapore to Indonesia have increased steadily over the years to cumulatively exceed S$74 billion.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said in a statement that a bilateral financing agreement – which preserves monetary and financial stability in both countries amid economic uncertainties – was extended for the fifth time.

In addition to the green economy, both outgoing leaders discussed other areas of cooperation, such as the digital economy and defence.

They also launched the pilot of a programme, known as TechX, which will allow young tech professionals from Indonesia and Singapore to pursue short-term working stints in each other’s country.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry said this will deepen linkages between Singapore and Indonesia’s tech ecosystems, and allow young tech professionals to gain overseas work experience and pursue growing opportunities in the digital economy.

It will also enable businesses to access a wider pool of tech professionals, and facilitate the movement of high-potential employees between their Singapore and Indonesia offices.

Both countries have been able to resolve longstanding issues surrounding airspace management, defence cooperation and extradition under an expanded framework that came into force in March this year.

PM Lee said these specific problems have been resolved in a manner that has kept the overall relationship stable and mutually beneficial for both countries.

“I think that between Singapore and Indonesia, we have good relations within Asean. That makes a difference and it enables Asean to play its role cooperating among ourselves, and also being a hub for broader regional cooperation,” he said.

“I very much hope, and I’m confident, that this will continue with the next Singapore prime minister and the next Indonesian president.”

New chapter in ties

This leaders’ retreat in Bogor was the seventh between PM Lee and Widodo. This short trip was also PM Lee’s final one overseas as prime minister before he is succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on May 15.

Widodo, meanwhile, will end his second and final term in office in October, with Defence Minister Prabowo Subianto taking over.

The former army general won the popular vote in the Feb 14 election, and was recently declared by the elections commission as the next president of South-east Asia’s largest economy.

Noting that one of his first overseas trips after becoming prime minister back in 2004 was to Indonesia to attend the swearing-in ceremony of then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, PM Lee said he was glad to close his many overseas trips over his 20-year premiership in the same country.

“(This is) because of the depth of the relations between our two countries, and the significance this friendship holds for the prosperity and the stability of Singapore and of the region,” he added.

On its part, he pointed out that Singapore has been able to hold its own at international forums, including negotiations on climate change as well as multilateral trade agreements, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

“Each one (helping) to make ourselves useful and therefore securing our place in the world, and giving us a little slightly bigger spot in the sun. And long may that continue,” said PM Lee.