Kalla, US ambassador discuss Trump’s policy

JAKARTA. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has met with United States Ambassador to Indonesia Joseph R. Donovan to discuss the economic policy of President Donald Trump.

The Vice President’s political affairs assistant, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, said economic issues had dominated the talks between Kalla and Donovan as many feared that protectionist policies from Trump might negatively affect the Indonesian economy.

“The three issues that were discussed included infrastructure, foods and manufacturing,” Dewi said on Wednesday as reported by tempo.co, adding that during the meeting Kalla also talked about Indonesian policy, including the wish to be self-sufficient in terms of food supply.

In his inaugural speech, Trump strongly stressed his protectionist policy, which would protect American products from similar products made in other countries.

Kalla, however, expressed his disbelief that Trump would be able to fulfill all his campaign promises while leading his administration, saying it would not be easy to change foreign policies that the country had had in place for a long period of time.

Meanwhile, Donovan promised to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He said his country would develop fair trade that would benefit both Indonesian and American businesses.

He believed that Indonesia and the US would be able to become good partners in business.