President Jokowi Meets Elon Musk

TheIndonesia.co - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) met with Elon Musk, the founder of American space transportation company Space X, and visited the company’s rocket factory in Boca Chica, the United States (US), on Saturday. The President arrived at the Stargate Space X Building at around 10:30 a.m. local time and was greeted personally by Musk.

They had a discussion and had a tour to see Space X’s rocket production facility. Jokowi said in a statement on Sunday that the visit was a follow-up to his directives to Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

"It is a follow-up to my directives, so we can talk with Musk regarding investment, technology, and innovation (development). Thus, I am now here to meet Must in person to discuss (our possible) future cooperation," he said.

Hence, he invited the corporation’s founder to visit Indonesia. "I think he is really interested in coming to Indonesia soon," the President added.

After having a tour for about an hour in the production facility, he left the area. Meanwhile, on the same occasion, Musk said that hopefully, he could visit Indonesia in November 2022.

"Thank you for the invitation," he said.

He also stated that he was really interested in the future of Indonesia which has various great potential. "Hence, Tesla and Space X will explore some collaborations with Indonesia," the businessman said.

The large population of the country which continues to grow is one of the most important potentials of Indonesia, according to him. “It is good because we will need a lot of people (human resources) in the future," he added.

During the visit, President Jokowi was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, State Secretary Minister Pratikno, as well as Indonesian Ambassador to US Rosan Roeslani. The president had been in the US since May 10, 2022, to attend the ASEAN-US Special Summit.