Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto promised his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, that he would come to the G20 Johannesburg Summit next month.

Ramaphosa is in Jakarta as part of a three-leg tour in Southeast Asia, with the region’s biggest economy being the first stop. South Africa currently chairs the G20, the club of the world’s major economies that includes Indonesia. Johannesburg is set to host a gathering of the group’s heads of state on Nov. 22-23, although US President Donald Trump had signaled he would be skipping the high-profile event.

During a joint presser with Ramaphosa, Prabowo gave his word that he would be coming to the Johannesburg event, which would be the first G20 summit to be held in Africa.

“I have received an invitation directly from President Ramaphosa to attend. I think it's a great honor for me to attend. I plan to attend," Prabowo said on Wednesday.

“This will symbolize the strength of South-South cooperation. We are confident that South Africa's leadership will advance a more inclusive and equitable global economic order.”

Earlier that day, Ramaphosa had told Prabowo that Indonesia’s presence at the Johannesburg summit could “lift the stature of the G20” by promoting trade and investments within the Global South. The term Global South typically encompasses developing economies.

Indonesia is the only Southeast Asian country in the G20. The tourist haven Bali hosted the leaders’ gathering in 2022, which had Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the same room. The Bali summit resulted in a leaders' declaration that saw most G20 members "strongly condemning the war in Ukraine". Russia is a G20 member.

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