(Bloomberg) -- Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto congratulated Donald Trump in a phone call on Sunday and may meet the president-elect in person this week, as he seeks to build links with the incoming administration.
“Wherever you are, I’m willing to fly to congratulate you personally,” Prabowo told Trump, according to a video of the call on his social media accounts. Trump said they could meet “anytime you want” and praised the “great, great job” the Indonesian leader is doing. Prabowo’s younger brother and adviser, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, separately said the two leaders will meet in Washington this week.
Prabowo’s first overseas trip since taking office on Oct. 20 saw him visit Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing before he headed for the US, as he tries to balance relations with both countries. Prabowo, who won February’s election after two failed attempts, may find common ground with Trump because they are both strongman leaders whose populist appeal is rooted in nationalism, according to Achmad Sukarsono, a Singapore-based associate director at Control Risks who focuses on Indonesia.
“They are men who come from the same generation whose global outlook is shaped by the Cold War and north-south divide,” Sukarsono said. “They are both old money elites who know the value of financial power and high level negotiations.”
Prabowo, whose father held ministerial positions in various Indonesian governments, married the daughter of former dictator Suharto and spent decades in the military before being dismissed over alleged human right abuses. He denied wrongdoing.
The US imposed a travel ban on Prabowo that was lifted near the end of Trump’s first term in office, and he visited Washington as defense minister in 2020.
The Indonesian leader met President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday, where Biden said the two countries’ partnership is “stronger than it’s ever been” amid 75 years of diplomatic relations. The leaders of the world’s two largest democracies would discuss regional stability, climate, supply chains, and global conflicts including Gaza and the South China Sea, Biden told reporters ahead of the meeting.
Prabowo, in turn, called the US a “great friend” and pledged to work very hard to strengthen the bilateral relationship.
Ahead of his White House visit, Prabowo met on Monday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Also on Monday, Prabowo met executives including Freeport McMoRan Inc. CEO Kathleen Quirk, S&P Global Inc. Vice Chairman Daniel Yergin and GE Healthcare Technologies Inc. CEO Peter Arduini, according to a statement from his office. Prabowo praised the businesses and America’s engagement with the Indonesian economy, and said he had encouraged them to invest.
Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Boeing Co. executives were also in attendance, and Prabowo reiterated his government’s policy priorities including food and energy security, downstreaming and tackling corruption, Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani said in a separate statement. Exxon, BP Plc and Chevron are seeking new opportunities in carbon capture and oil and gas in Indonesia, Roeslani said.
Trump separately accepted an invitation to visit Vietnam while on a call with Communist Party chief To Lam, according to the Southeast Asian nation’s government. Trump also invited Lam to visit at “an appropriate time.”
After Prabowo’s visit to China, where Indonesia agreed to jointly develop fisheries and encourage maritime safety, his government denied that it had effectively recognized China’s disputed claims in the South China Sea.
In their call, Prabowo also expressed relief that Trump had survived an assassination attempt in July. “Whenever you’re around, you let me know and I might also get to your country sometime,” Trump said. “You’re a very respected person and I give you credit for that.”
--With assistance from Nguyen Kieu Giang, Skylar Woodhouse, Michelle Jamrisko and Clarissa Batino.
(Updates with Biden and Prabowo’s comments in seventh and eighth paragraphs.)
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