JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, said he would decide whether Southeast Asia’s largest economy would join the United States-led Pacific trade agreement after his meeting with President Obama at the White House on Monday.

In an interview before a four-day visit to the United States this week, Mr. Joko also said that his government was rapidly stripping away cumbersome protectionist trade regulations that foreign businesses had long chafed at.

“I’m a businessman,” he said, referring to his job as a furniture exporter before he began his political career as the mayor of his hometown in Central Java. “I know what they want. I know what they need. I want to say that Indonesia is open for investment. Indonesia is open for investors.”

If Indonesia, a G20 member with about a $1 trillion economy, were to join the trade agreement, it would be a boon for Washington.