Abbott Invites Jokowi To Attend G-20 Meeting

Jakarta, Oct 21 (Antara) - Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott invited President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to attend a G-20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia, in November 2014, during their meeting at the Merdeka Palace here on Monday night. "The main point is that he invited me to attend G-20 meeting," Jokowi told journalists at the Merdeka Palace following the meeting. Jokowi received Abbot at around 07.00 p.m. At the 30-minute meeting, Abbot raised a number of economic issues, including fuel subsidy, electricity, investment, and bureaucracy reform including regulations which have so far posed a hindrance to investment and infrastructure development. Both Jokowi and Abbott also discussed Indonesian students in Australia whose number continued to increase. Jokowi said he did not talk much in the meeting as he had not as yet had a cabinet. "We have not had a cabinet yet so I have not been prepared to speak (very much)," he said. Asked when he would announce his cabinet, Jokowi said: "as quickly as possible." This is the first meeting between the two leaders since Jokowi was sworn in as the country`s seventh president on Monday. Abbott is among the six heads of state and 13 special envoys who were present at the presidential inauguration. The other leaders were Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei Darussalam, Timor Leste President Taur Mata Huak, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Papua New Guinean (PNG) Prime Minister Peter O`Neill, and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.