Jakarta. The leaders of Saudi Arabia have sent their best wishes to president-elect Prabowo Subianto who will begin governing the Muslim-majority Indonesia this October.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud recently congratulated Prabowo’s victory over a diplomatic cable. The same goes for the Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. The two messages also share a similar tone, both wishing Prabowo success and the Indonesian people “further progress and prosperity”.

“The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques [King Salman] praised the distinguished relations between the two friendly countries and peoples, which all seek to strengthen and develop in all fields,” the Saudi Press Agency wrote.

Indonesia-Saudi Arabia bilateral ties mainly revolve around hajj, among other things. Last October, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo managed to secure an additional 20,000 hajj pilgrims quota after he told the Saudi government that some Indonesians had to wait for decades. This means that Indonesia can send a total of 241,000 hajj pilgrims this year. The first wave of the hajj pilgrims is set to depart on May 12.

“I told the prime minister that the hajj queue was extremely long. Some people had to wait 47 years to go on hajj, so Indonesia needs an additional quota. Praise be to God. … Within less than 12 hours, [he] immediately gave Indonesia an additional quota of at least 20,000 hajj quota at least for the year 2024,” Jokowi said on the sidelines of an ASEAN-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit in Riyadh.

In 2023, Indonesia-Saudi Arabia trade hit $6.1 billion, down from $7.5 billion recorded the previous year. 

Indonesia does not have a trade pact with Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said that the lack of such a deal made Indonesia lose out on hajj catering opportunities.

Zulkifli claimed that despite sending hundreds of millions of hajj pilgrims, the food they consume uses ingredients imported from other ASEAN countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. Indonesia is currently exploring the possibility of striking a trade deal with the GCC of which Saudi Arabia is a member.