Jokowi And German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Plant Sandalwood Trees At Bogor Palace

President Joko Widodo and President of the German Federation Frank-Walter Steinmeier planted sandalwood trees or Santalum album (Via ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) together with the President of the German Federation Frank-Walter Steinmeier planted a sandalwood tree in the courtyard of the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java today.

Planting the tree - as reported by Antara - became one of the routine activities when President Jokowi received state visits from heads of government or heads of state from friendly countries.

President Steinmeier's arrival at around 10.00 WIB at the Bogor Presidential Palace was greeted with the accompaniment of the Nusantara Troops, Equestrian Troops, and the Music Corps of the Presidential Security Forces (Paspampres).

Furthermore, there was an official welcoming ceremony with the national anthems of the two countries being played and accompanied by the boom of the cannon 21 times. After the cannon blast finished, the two leaders then carried out an inspection of the honorary troops.

The two leaders then introduced the delegations from each country who attended the ceremony, including, among others, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang, Minister of Investment/Head of BKPM Bahlil Lahadalia, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahendra Siregar, Directorate General America and Europe Ministry of Foreign Affairs I Gede Ngurah Swajaya.

The German delegation attended, including the German Ambassador to Indonesia Ina Lepel, State Secretary, Head of the Office Dörte Dinger, Tate Minister, Federal Foreign Office Anna Lührmann, Deputy Chairman of ASEAN Parliamentary Group Peter Aumer, MP (Bundestag), Head of Foreign Policy Department Wolfgang Silbermann, Spokeswoman of the Federal President Cerstin Gammelin.

After introducing each other to their respective delegations, President Jokowi then invited President Frank-Walter to take a group photo and sign the state guest book in the Lotus Room, Bogor Palace.

President Jokowi and President Frank-Walter then headed to the veranda to chat for a moment.

The series of events then continued with the joint planting of sandalwood trees or santalum albums by President Jokowi and German President Frank-Walter.

After planting the tree together, the two leaders of the countries held a face-to-face meeting before continuing with a bilateral bilateral meeting with the delegations of each country in the oval room.

After the bilateral meeting, the two leaders then made a joint press statement in the Lotus Room. The official welcoming ceremony ended with a state lunch for President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the Garuda Room.

Diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Germany were officially opened on June 25, 1952. 2022 will be a special year for Indonesia and Germany. This year, the two countries officially commemorated the 70th anniversary of the opening of diplomatic relations.

President Steinmeier's entourage arrived on Wednesday, 15 June 2022, at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and will be in Indonesia until 17 June 2022. Previously, President Steinmeier visited Singapore on 13-15 June 2022.

The focus of this visit is to discuss investment, trade, energy transition, and cooperation between the G20 and G7 in which Germany is the Chair of the G7 and Indonesia holds the G20 Presidency in 2022.

Before arriving at the Bogor Presidential Palace, President Steinmeier performed a flower-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the 3rd President of Indonesia BJ Habibie at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery.