CSIS seminar to review Aussie-RI ties

CSIS seminar to review Aussie-RI ties

JAKARTA (JP): The Center for Strategic and International
Studies (CSIS) will host a seminar here beginning tomorrow to
review the state of relations between Indonesia and Australia.

The four-day conference, to be divided between Jakarta and
Surabaya, will focus on strategic, economic and political
interests between the two countries, CSIS Vice Chairman Hari Tjan
Silalahi told reporters yesterday.

The Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific (RIAP) of the
University of Sydney will co-sponsor the meeting.

Australian foreign minister, Gareth Evans, is scheduled to
give a keynote address, and there will be a presentation on
behalf of his Indonesian counterpart, Ali Alatas, who is still
recovering after recent heart surgery in Melbourne.

Other speakers include CSIS Chairman Jusuf Wanandi, RIAP
director Tim McDonald and his deputy, Desmond Ball, Juwono
Sudarsono of the University of Indonesia and CSIS chief economist
Mari Pangestu.

A closed forum in Surabaya beginning on Sunday will discuss
changing Australian and Indonesian societies and the impact on
bilateral relations, both countries' experiences of economic
reform and deregulation, the role of the media, lessons from AFTA
and the ANZ-CER (Australia and New Zealand-Closer Economic
Relationships) and the future of Australia-Indonesia relations.

During the conference, which is being held within the
framework of the Australia Today Indonesia 94 trade and cultural
promotion currently underway, an emphasis will be place on
observing the sister-city relationship between various states in
Australia and provinces in Indonesia. (pwn)