Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto is set to host Communist Party of Vietnam's General Secretary To Lam on a state visit to Indonesia soon.

The party chief will make his maiden state visit to Indonesia on March 9-11. Both countries are celebrating seven decades of diplomatic relations. Bilateral economic ties flourishing over the past years.

According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the upcoming talks will likely result in some deals on food security and renewable energy. Vietnam is one of Indonesia's top foreign suppliers of rice although Jakarta is planning to stop imports of the grain starting this year. Prabowo also wants Indonesia to be able to feed its population without relying on import by 2027. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that Indonesia had imported around 1.1 million tons of Vietnamese rice in 2023.

The two countries aim to be high-income economies by their centennials in 2045. Food security will be key to this goal.

"Through General Secretary To Lam's visit, the two countries will set new innovative cooperation to achieve the vision of 2045, focusing in areas such as food security [agriculture and fisheries], digital, renewable energy, and high-tech industries," the ministry wrote on its official website on Friday.

Government data shows bilateral trade have grown significantly from $12.8 billion in 2023 to $15.9 billion in 2024. Indonesia and Vietnam are aiming to raise the two-way trade value to $18 billion by 2028.

Electric car producer VinFast has become a major Vietnamese investor in Indonesia as Jakarta tries to pursue e-mobility to slash its emissions. In July 2024, VinFast broke ground on an assembly plant that boasts an annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles in West Java's Subang. This facility, which took up an initial investment of $200 million, is set to enter operations by the end of this year. Official figures revealed that Indonesia had logged $63.9 million in foreign direct investment from Vietnam throughout last year. The Vietnamese money went to 150 projects.

This will not be the first time for Prabowo to meet To Lam in person. Last September, Prabowo flew to Vietnam to introduce himself as Indonesia's president-elect. He was serving as the defense minister under Ex-President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. To Lam, too, was Vietnam's president, although it was only about a month away before he passed the baton to Luong Cuong. Prabowo and To Lam at the time agreed to work together on tackling illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

In Vietnam's politics, the communist party's general secretary is the highest political leader among the four pillars of the state leadership.

Both Indonesia and Vietnam are ASEAN members. To Lam is scheduled to make a visit to Jakarta's ASEAN headquarters on Monday, according to the Southeast Asian bloc's secretariat.

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