Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto concluded his weeks-long overseas tour in Abu Dhabi, where United Arab Emirates leader Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, widely known as MBZ, pledged to step up investment in Indonesia.

Prabowo returned to Jakarta on Friday morning after departing on Feb. 16 for Washington. On Thursday local time, MBZ hosted the Indonesian leader for talks focused largely on investment cooperation, although no concrete agreements were signed.

“The UAE wants to invest more in Indonesia,” Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said following the meeting.

According to Teddy, the UAE views Indonesia as a strategic partner within ASEAN, particularly in energy, infrastructure, and future-oriented economic sectors. Prabowo welcomed the commitment, reiterating Indonesia’s readiness to strengthen what he described as a conducive and sustainable investment climate.

Indonesia also pledged to expand opportunities for Emirati investors in priority sectors as Southeast Asia’s largest economy seeks to attract more foreign capital.

Official data show that UAE investment in Indonesia reached approximately $169.7 million in 2025, more than five times the $32.7 million recorded a year earlier. Bilateral trade has also accelerated, rising from nearly $5.1 billion in 2024 to $6.4 billion in 2025 following the implementation of a free trade agreement.

Prabowo’s itinerary abroad was packed with diplomatic and business engagements. In Washington, he attended the inaugural Board of Peace for Gaza meeting and held a 30-minute bilateral session with US President Donald Trump, who publicly described him as a “tough cookie.” The two leaders agreed to work toward what they called a “new golden age” in Indonesia–US relations.

On the commercial front, Indonesian officials said the trip secured US business commitments worth up to $38.4 billion. However, attention at home has shifted to a controversial US tariff agreement, which was thrown into uncertainty after the US Supreme Court invalidated Trump-era tariffs less than 24 hours after the deal was signed.

From Washington, Prabowo traveled to London, where sovereign wealth fund Danantara signed a partnership with UK-based chip designer Arm to train 15,000 Indonesian engineers in semiconductor design.

Prabowo’s final stops were Jordan and the UAE — both participants in the proposed Gaza peace initiative — underscoring Indonesia’s dual-track diplomacy focused on economic expansion and geopolitical engagement.