REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, confirmed that all preparations for President Joko Widodo's visit to the United States (US) were through formal and official lane.

"I just want to emphasize once again, all preparations for the visit of President Jokowi to the US was made formally and officially. Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated the visit with the related ministry and institutions in the US," said Retno in a press conference in Jakarta, Saturday (7/11) afternoon.

The statement was delivered to deny the news that spread about President Jokowi's visit to the US through services of foreign lobbyists. Retno further explained that the early talks of President Jokowi's visit to the US occurred during the APEC summit in Beijing, at the end of 2014.

On the sidelines of the APEC meeting, President Jokowi and President Obama held a bilateral meeting, President Obama invited President Jokowi to visit his country.

Following up on the APEC meeting, in March 2015, Assistant of President Obama, Dr. Evan Mediros, conducted a visit to Indonesia to convey the official invitation of President Obama to President Jokowi. Furthermore, President Jokowi replied via letter and stated that Indonesian government welcomed the invitation and would soon organize the visit.

President Jokowi also said that he was happy because Indonesian authorities and the US had agreed to determine the date of the visit on 26 October 26 2015.

"I chaired the meeting of preparatory visits for three times at the ministerial level on 17th September, 7th October, and 17th October," said Retno.

She also said that the visit of President Jokowi to the US produced some cooperation, such as the signing of a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in maritime, energy, defense, and an alternative aviation fuel, and also 19 business deals worth more than 20 billion US dollars.

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