Jakarta. The government announced Wednesday that French President Emmanuel Macron would fly to Indonesia to meet his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in May.

Macron gave his word on the state visit when he met with Communications Minister Meutya Hafid on the margins of the AI Action Summit in Paris on Tuesday local time, according to a ministerial press release. 

“I will. I will. I love your country,” Macron told Meutya.

This would not be the first time for Macron to set foot in Indonesia. In 2022, Macron traveled to Bali for the G20 talks when the Southeast Asian nation presided over the world’s twenty largest economies. France and Indonesia agreed to establish a bilateral “strategic partnership” in 2011. The two fellow G20 members agreed on stepping up their diplomatic relations that year when Former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono hosted France’s then-Prime Minister François Fillon in Jakarta.

“President Macron’s visit to Indonesia will further bolster our strategic cooperation across various sectors, including digital economy, artificial intelligence, defense, and green energy,” Meutya was quoted as saying in the press statement.

Jakarta is also expecting to see some “concrete agreements” during Macron’s visit. However, Meutya did not go into details on what sort of concrete deals would come out of the bilateral talks. 

Macron had previously spoken to Prabowo on bilateral settings when they were in Rio de Janeiro for the G20 Summit a few months ago. Former army general Prabowo at the time had only been in office for almost one month. As expected, their meeting touched on defense cooperation amid Indonesia’s purchase deals of the French-made Rafale fighter jets. French naval defense firm Naval Group also has a transfer of technology deal with Indonesia’s state-owned shipbuilder PAL for the development of two Scorpène submarines.

Indonesia, a resource-rich country that is trying to develop the domestic industries of its commodities, is also quite popular among French businesses. Government data shows Indonesia amassed $328.1 million in foreign direct investment from French investors throughout 2024. Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani revealed not long ago French mining giant Eramet’s plans to explore new mining areas in South Sulawesi and Papua. Eramet already has operations in Maluku through the Weda Bay Nickel joint venture.

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