Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has a chance to "reset" Australia's relationship with Indonesia when he travels to Jakarta later this month, foreign policy experts say.

Key points: Turnbull first Australian leader to visit Indonesia since Bali Nine executions

Turnbull first Australian leader to visit Indonesia since Bali Nine executions Visit marks reset in wake of Abbott's departure, foreign policy experts say

Visit marks reset in wake of Abbott's departure, foreign policy experts say Discussions with Indonesia president to focus on trade and investment

Mr Turnbull will be the first Australian leader to visit Indonesia since the executions of the Bali Nine drug smugglers Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran in April.

"I think this visit will be quite important because it marks a reset in the wake of Tony Abbott's departure from the prime ministership," Professor Tim Lindsey, director of the centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne, said.

He said Mr Abbott became "extremely unpopular" in Indonesia after linking foreign aid to the Bali Nine executions.

Alex Oliver, director of polling at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, supported Professor Lindsey's analysis.

"The Indonesians took umbrage at Tony Abbott's handling of that crisis and his trading off of the idea of Australian aid and the executions," Ms Oliver said.

"With the change of leadership and the reception that Mr Turnbull has already had with the commentators there, it suggests the relationship can be reset quite easily now."

Turnbull's Jakarta talks to focus on trade, investment

The Prime Minister's office said Mr Turnbull's discussions with Indonesian president Joko Widodo would focus on trade and economic ties.

Professor Lindsey said there was "huge potential" for improvement in the trading relationship.

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"There are many countries much farther away that are much closer trading partners and do a lot more business with Indonesia than we do," he said.

"In fact, Australia invests a good deal more in New Zealand than it does in Indonesia, which seems a pretty crazy situation."

The suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia in 2011 created difficulties in the relationship, but Professor Lindsey said the bigger problems were on Indonesia's side.

"The mix of poor infrastructure, over regulation and red tape, unreliable and inconsistent administration of the trade regime in Indonesia will have to be fixed if Indonesia wants to create better foreign investment," he said.

Mr Turnbull will meet Mr Widodo on November 12 at the start of a busy period of international engagements.

He will then travel to Germany for talks with chancellor Angela Merkel before the G20 summit in Turkey, the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in the Philippines, and the East Asia summit in Malaysia.