Visiting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has announced plans to reactivate the Indonesia–Thailand Energy Forum (ITEF) as a concrete step toward strengthening energy security cooperation with Thailand.
The announcement was made during a joint statement, with Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, given at Government House in Bangkok yesterday, according to Antara, the Indonesian news agency.
According to the agency, the president sees the forum as a strategic platform on which to promote collaboration between governments and business actors in the energy sector, particularly in the fields of new and renewable energy.
Jakarta has also expressed openness to Thai participation in developing Indonesia's energy sector.
President Prabowo’s two-day visit is the first to Thailand by an Indonesian president in 20 years.
He was granted an audience with Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand on the evening of his arrival.
The Indonesia-Thailand Energy Forum was established following an agreement between the two countries’ leaders in Jakarta in October 2006.
A joint statement was signed by the then Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources and Thailand’s Minister of Energy on December 21, 2007.
The most recent ITEF session was held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in 2010, under the theme of “Strengthening Cooperation and Tightening Friendship in the Energy Sector.”
