Australian PM holds talks with Indonesian president

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull held talks with visiting Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Sunday, discussing trade, maritime cooperation and counter-terrorism, among others.

The two countries also agreed to re-establish military training exercises.

After a rocky relationship between the two countries in the last few years, President Widodo's two-day visit has helped to reaffirm bilateral ties.

Indonesia suspended its military exercises with Australia in January after it was reported that culturally offensive material at a special forces base in Perth angered Indonesian troops.

"President Widodo and I have agreed to the full restoration of defence cooperation, training exchanges and activities," Turnbull said.

Maritime affairs were also high on the agenda during official talks, with plans to further cooperation.

"Australia and Indonesia are natural maritime partners with common interests, so we've agreed on a joint declaration on enhancing maritime cooperation which will be underpinned by a plan of action to increase the benefits of our maritime partnership," Turnbull said.

The two leaders also announced a scheme to combat terrorism and human trafficking by boosting the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Justice with 40 million Australian dollars (31 million U.S dollars) of funding.

President Widodo said he would be working with Australia to create more Indonesian language facilities in major Australian cities and that they would be "coming soon," with over a million Australians learning the language at school.

Due to the huge number of tourists visiting Indonesia, Prime Minister Turnbull said the Australian government will open a new consulate general in Indonesia's second largest city and commercial hub Surabaya.

Australian exporters were told Indonesia would lower their sugar tariff to 5 percent, in line with the rest of Asia and in return Australian would wave import taxes on pesticides and herbicides.

Meanwhile, the technology sector was given a boost by the news that more would be done to facilitate digital exchange.

"As we are both passionate enthusiasts for things digital we have agreed to enhance our agreement on the digital and creative economy," Turnbull said.

"Our meeting clearly demonstrates our profound commitment for bilateral cooperation," President Widodo said.

"A robust relationship can be established when both countries have mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity, non interference into the domestic affairs of each other and the ability to develop mutual beneficial partnership," he said.

source: Xinhua