Japan offers Indonesia 473 million USD loan to fight COVID-19

Indonesian President Joko Widodo and his wife (R) and visiting Japanse Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and his wife. (Photo: Kyodo)

Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide said on October 20 that his country will provide 50 billion JPY (473 million USD) in low-interest loans to Indonesia to support its fight against COVID-19.

The offer was made to Indonesian President Joko Widodo during talks held near Jakarta, Kyodo News reported.  

Suga, who is on the second leg of his first overseas trip since taking office, said he also agreed with Widodo to start discussions on resuming business travel between their countries and to hold security talks between their defense and foreign ministers at an early date.

Suga arrived in Jakarta in the afternoon from Hanoi, where he met with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc on October 19. The visit to Indonesia will complete his four-day trip through October 21.

His four-day trip to the two Southeast Asian countries takes place as the Japanese PM is working to promote Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision./.

VNA