Jakarta. President-elect Prabowo Subianto sent his congratulatory message Friday to Claudia Sheinbaum, a Mexican politician who is set to be the country’s first woman president.

For the first time in Mexico’s 200-year history, a woman will assume the top government position. Like Prabowo, Sheinbaum will officially take office this October, although the former Mexico City mayor will begin her presidential responsibilities at the beginning of the month.

“I extend my warmest congratulations to the President-elect of the Republic of Mexico, Her Excellency Claudia Sheinbaum on her notable victory in the 2024 Mexican General Election,” Prabowo wrote on the social media platform X.

“Indonesia eagerly awaits enhanced collaboration with Mexico on many strategic issues, as well as advancing global prosperity within our partnership,” Prabowo said.

Both Indonesia and Mexico are members of the G20 forum. Indonesia held the G20 presidency in 2022, with the summit taking place in the tourist haven of Bali. While most countries were represented by their leaders, Mexico sent its then Foreign Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard to fly to the Bali summit.

Mexico is also part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Indonesia’s goal to get into this group has been topping Jakarta’s foreign policy agenda.

Government data showed that Indonesia-Mexico trade had been rising over the past years. Bilateral trade volume amounted to $1.6 billion in 2021, then rose to $2 billion the following year before it reached $2.5 billion in 2023. 

Both Sheinbaum and Prabowo secured landslide wins in their respective elections. Preliminary results showed that Sheinbaum captured between 58 and 60 percent of the votes in the election. Prabowo amassed 96.2 million votes, meaning that the defense minister got almost 58.59 percent of the votes.