Indonesia President gifts new Australian PM with bamboo bike

TEMANGGUNGGUNG, Indonesia : Indonesian President Joko Widodo led Anthony Albanese around the lush gardens of a presidential palace south of Jakarta, and presented the new Australian prime minister with an unusual gift: a bamboo bike.

The night before, designer Singgih Susilo Kartono learned that it would be the Spedagi model he crafts in a small village on the island of Java that the leaders would ride side-by-side in a unique moment of bicycle diplomacy.

Prime Minister Albanese would tuck his trousers into his socks after the statesmen stripped off their jackets and ties and donned helmets, setting off on the light and environmentally friendly two-wheelers for the symbolic bike ride.

The 54-year-old designer told AFP that the gesture was a special moment for him after years of working on the bike.

It's not about the bike being bought by Jokowi, but the fact that it was used to welcome PM Albanese, he said.