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Malcolm Turnbull and Indonesia President Joko Widodo To Talk Trade, Security In Sydney

Widodo is in Sydney for the weekend.
Malcolm Turnbull and Joko Widodo on a state visit in Indonesia in 2015.
Darren Whiteside / Reuters
Malcolm Turnbull and Joko Widodo on a state visit in Indonesia in 2015.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has touched down in Australia for bilateral talks with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, with tourism and mining expected to be top of the agenda.

Widodo, who is commonly referred to as "Jokowi", arrived in Sydney on Saturday morning after rescheduling his original trip that was cancelled last year following a violent protest in Jakarta from hardline Islamic groups.

The Indonesian President is expected to discuss with Turnbull the Asian nation's plan to create "10 new Balis" across the archipelago and also talk mining, especially potential partnerships with Australian companies on copper and gold exploration.

Trade and security are also tipped to be priorities, including ongoing negotiations over free trade deal between the two neighbours.

"This visit is very important for us, this is a visit to a close neighbour," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told the ABC ahead of Mr Widodo's arrival in Sydney.

Widodo's scrapped 2016 visit was due to include an address to a joint sitting of the federal Parliament but this weekend's visit, the President's first to Australia, will be a more casual affair.

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