Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto is expected to return to France again soon, according to a minister, as the next delivery of the Rafale jets gets closer in time.
Prabowo was only in Paris last week for talks on defense and energy transition with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Foreign Minister Sugiono, however, revealed that Prabowo would soon embark on his fourth Paris trip.
“[The leaders discussed] President Prabowo’s plans to make a state visit to France in the near future,” Sugiono told a press briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Sugiono didn’t say when Prabowo would leave Jakarta for Paris.
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“Discussions are underway to elevate our ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Hopefully, our cooperation will expand and become more strategic then,” he said.
He described the two leaders as having a “very close personal relationship”, which provided a major boost to bilateral ties. Jakarta also signaled its intention to further expand the scope of its existing cooperation.
“We have purchased French-made strategic defense equipment, but we need to master the technology. This sparks an intention to pursue education cooperation in the defense sector,” Sugiono said.
“So we can go beyond procurement. We don’t want to simply buy the defense equipment, but we are seeking technology transfer and mastery from our military purchases [with France].”
The Prabowo-Macron talks also touched on energy cooperation and critical minerals.
Prabowo has caught public attention for spending at least 95 days abroad during his presidency so far, despite instructing his officials to cancel overseas trips to save state spending.
Just a few weeks ago, Prabowo defended his busy agenda abroad, saying that he had to “go everywhere to secure oil supply” as the ongoing Iran war fueled worldwide energy shocks.
Indonesia’s purchases of 42 Rafale fighter jets made by the French defense giant Dassault Aviation have become a major milestone in their bilateral ties. Prabowo’s latest trip had sparked speculations for new Rafale orders, which Defense Ministry spokesman Rico Ricardo Sirait had denied, citing that Jakarta had not made a final decision on additional purchase. Indonesia has received the first three planes. The next batch of three units is “expected to arrive in early May”, according to Rico.
Beyond defense, Indonesia-France trade had soared from $2.4 billion in 2024 to almost $2.7 billion the following year. Trade already reached $830.2 million in January-February 2026. The figure is expected to skyrocket once Jakarta’s free trade agreement with the European Union — of which France is part — kicks in next year.
Read More: Indonesia Says No New Rafale Order, 3 Jets Set for May Arrival
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