RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta – Indonesia’s Vice President, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, held a meeting with Laos Deputy Prime Minister, Thongsavan Phomvihane at the Vice Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. They discussed various potential areas of cooperation, including Indonesian investment in Laos’ fertilizer industry.

Indonesia’s Vice Foreign Minister, Muhammad Anis Matta, conveyed the two leaders covered three main themes of bilateral cooperation: economic, security, and political issues. He noted that both countries underscored the importance of strengthening regional cooperation in response to current global challenges.

"Amid the current geopolitical uncertainties, geography plays a very important role. Therefore, boosting ASEAN cooperation—and in this context, Laos—is extremely important," he said in a press statement after the meeting.

One of the topics explored was intelligence cooperation to combat international scam networks. In addition, cooperation to support Indonesia’s food self-sufficiency was discussed, which Anis said aligns with the priorities of President Prabowo Subianto.

"One of the key topics discussed was the possibility of PT Pupuk Indonesia investing in Laos, especially considering that Indonesia still imports raw materials for fertilizer," he said.

Pupuk Indonesia is a state-owned holding company that produces various types of fertilizers through its subsidiaries, such as Pupuk Sriwijaya and Petrokimia Gresik. As of the end of 2021, the company had a production capacity of up to 14 million tons of fertilizer per year.

The potential cooperation in the fertilizer sector was also confirmed by Deputy Head of the State-Owned Enterprises Regulatory Agency (BP BUMN), Aminuddin Ma’ruf. He said that Gibran had instructed relevant parties to explore the investment opportunity as part of efforts to strengthen the food ecosystem.

"The Vice President has instructed us at BP BUMN and Danantara (Indonesian sovereign wealth fund) to explore investment opportunities in fertilizer downstreaming, to enhance cooperation in realizing the President’s vision of food sovereignty and security—not only for Indonesia, but also at the Southeast Asia level," he said.