CANBERRA, Australia — Indonesian and Australian ministers signed an agreement to strengthen government economic exchanges on Monday as the neighbouring countries work toward forging a bilateral free trade deal. Indonesian and Australian officials have concluded negotiations on a free trade deal. Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said last week he was confident after a meeting with Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo the free trade deal between Australia, a nation of 25 million people, and Indonesia, a near-neighbour with more than 260 million people, would be signed within weeks. But Turnbull also warned the government to expect a negative reaction from Muslim-majority Indonesia if Australia follows the United States by shifting its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Mulyani described the meeting as “very productive” and said she was confident the bilateral relationship would continue to be positive and strong.

Source: National Post November 05, 2018 06:36 UTC