Malcolm Turnbull
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announces his new federal cabinet during a media conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, September 20, 2015. Australia got its fifth prime minister in as many years on Monday after the ruling Liberal Party voted to replace Abbott with former investment banker Malcolm Turnbull, following months of infighting and crumbling voter support. Reuters/David Gray

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull took the flight to Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday morning, beginning his 10-day diplomatic tour to the five nations – Indonesia, Germany, Turkey, Philippines and Malaysia.

The aim of the prime minister behind the Jakarta visit is to work on the misunderstandings between the two nations after the execution of the Bali Nine duo, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. Australia’s decision to turn around boats containing refugees, most of whom departed to Indonesia, has also raised tensions between the two countries.

President Joko Widodo and the Australian prime minister are also expected to discuss trade and economic relations. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb will join the PM next on his global diplomatic tour.

Turnbull will be visiting Germany next as wife Lucy Turnbull, who is also the president of German-Australian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, along with several industrial personalities, wish to see strong trade relations between the two nations. Executives from software company SAP, the ANU, the NAB and Siemens have shown their willingness in improving the relation.

For the G20 summit, Turnbull will reach Turkey after Germany. Antalya, the host city for the event, is situated across the Mediterranean Sea towards the coast of Syria and hence refuses to accept thousands refugees to the Turkish coast. Lowy Institute’s G20 Studies Centre researcher Tris Sainsbury said that it is necessary to discuss those issues in the summit. “It will always address the pressing issues of the day, it should be doing that. We saw that with Ebola last year,” Sainsbury told the ABC.

The APEC in Manila, Philippines, will be his next target. Turnbull might get a chance to approach all the participating nations together to ensure betterment of relationship with them. USA’s Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and other leaders from Japan, Canada, Thailand, Singapore and Korea will attend the meeting. It is assumed that after the conclusion on the negotiations on the TPP, participating nation representatives will celebrate the closure of the deal in Manila.

Lastly, Turnbull will be landing in Malaysia for the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 21-22. He will join the launch of the ASEAN Community.

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