Treasurer Jim Chalmers admits Australia needs to work harder at building its relationship with Indonesia.
The comments came after Dr Chalmers spoke with his Indonesia counterpart Sri Mulyani, ahead of Indonesia hosting the G20 finance ministers’ summit in July.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will fly to Jakarta on Sunday for high-level talks, noting the relationship with Indonesia was “very important”.
Dr Chalmers said Indonesia would be a key focus during his role as treasurer.
“We need to work harder at it, and Anthony wants to, and Penny Wong wants to, and I want to work closely with them,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
“There is a big international economic agenda.”
Earlier this year, Mr Albanese said enhancing bilateral relations with Indonesia would be a priority under a Labor government.
He also pledged to work with the Indonesian government to deliver a $200 million climate and infrastructure partnership, as well as an economic expansion from a comprehensive partnership agreement between the two nations.
Dr Chalmers said he would aim to attend the summit of finance ministers later this year.
“I hope to get to the G20 meetings in Bali in July so we can make our contribution to making sure the G20 works effectively in the economic sphere and the issues beyond that,” he said.
