This is his first official visit to Vietnam since his assumption of the presidency in 2014.

The trip aims to develop economic cooperation and expand market access between the two countries. 

The visit by President Widodo takes place in the context that the Vietnam – Indonesia strategic partnership has recorded new progress since the official visit to Indonesia by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in August 2017, and serves as an important focus that helps orient the bilateral cooperation in the new stage five years after the establishment of the strategic partnership.

Vietnam and Indonesia established diplomatic relations on December 30, 1955. 

In recent years, trade between the two countries has seen encouraging progress. Two-way trade value rose to 5.6 billion USD in 2016 from 4.6 billion USD in 2012. The figure in the 2017 further increased to 6.5 billion USD and 4.7 billion USD for the first seven month of this year, while the two sides are striving to bring it to 10 billion USD in 2020. Vietnam’s main exports to Indonesia include rice, crude oil, cement, electronic components and farm produce, and its main imports from the country are fertiliser, gasoline, packaging material, machinery, fabrics, paper and confectionery.-VNA