PM Jacinda Ardern to talk trade with Indonesian President Joko Widodo

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, speaking here at an Asean summit in Australia on Saturday, will meet with Jacinda Arden in Wellington tomorrow. Photo / Mark Metcalfe

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will welcome Joko Widodo, the President of Indonesia, in Wellington tomorrow to celebrate 60 years of NZ-Indonesia relations and discuss trade - but he is expected to be shielded from questions from the media.

Meanwhile West Papua Action Auckland is calling for Ardern to raise human rights issues with Widodo over the Indonesian province that has been fighting for independence for decades.

Widodo is the head of the world's largest Muslim country and the largest economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). It is a major market for New Zealand meat, dairy and agriculture exports, with total two-way goods trade of NZ$1.76 billion in 2017.

This will be Widodo's first visit to New Zealand, and he will accompanied by his wife, ministers and a business delegation.

It is customary for visiting heads of state to hold a press conference after meeting with the Prime Minister, but it is understood Widodo requested that no press conference be held.

It will mean he will not be opened up to questions from media, including about West Papua.

In a statement, West Papua Action Auckland urged Ardern to raise human rights and the "suffering of the people of Indonesian-ruled West Papua" with Widodo.

"West Papuan people have been seeking freedom from repressive military rule. The loss of life is estimated to be at least 100,000.

"Our Melanesian neighbours in West Papua are suffering grievously and must not be overlooked for the sake of 'good relations', or markets for our goods."

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc, who met with Ardern on Tuesday, also did not hold a press conference with Ardern.

Widodo has been at an Asean meeting in Australia and first met Ardern at the East Asia Summit last year.

He will be welcomed at Government House on Monday before having lunch with Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy.

He will then meet with Ardern, and afterwards with Opposition leader Simon Bridges.

Trade is expected to be high on the agenda; a booming population and consumer class make Indonesia an important market for New Zealand.

New Zealand and Indonesia have free trade through New Zealand's trade agreement with Asean, but in 2013 New Zealand took Indonesia to the World Trade Organisation over 18 agricultural trade barriers.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the barriers are estimated to have cost the New Zealand beef sector up to a billion dollars, and have also affected horticultural exports.

Indonesia appealed a decision in New Zealand's favour in 2016, and the WTO upheld its ruling in November last year that the 18 barriers were inconsistent with global trade rules.

Trade Minister David Parker said at the time of the ruling that it would open the way for further export growth to Indonesia.