German President here to boost bilateral ties

JAKARTA (JP): German President Johannes Rau and his wife Christina arrived here on Monday for a five-day visit to strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries.

Rau arrived at Halim Perdanakusuma airport at around 3:30 p.m. onboard a special flight and was welcomed by President Abdurrahman Wahid and several Cabinet ministers.

Rau was scheduled to meet with Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri before attending a state dinner at the Merdeka Palace later on Monday evening.

Rau, on Tuesday, is scheduled to hold talks with Abdurrahman, chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly Amien Rais and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung.

On Wednesday, Rau will leave for Yogyakarta to visit a local Islamic boarding school and Borobudur temple.

He will then fly to the North Sumatran capital, Medan, on Thursday to meet with church leaders and then go to Nommensen University.

Rau is scheduled to leave for Germany on Friday.

Karl Carstens was the last German President to visit Indonesia in 1984.

Germany is Indonesia's sixth leading trade partner worldwide after Japan, the U.S., Singapore, the Netherlands and Australia.

At present, about 160 German companies are represented in Indonesia in the sectors of mechanical engineering, medical technology and infrastructure.

The main German imports from Indonesia are clothing, agricultural produce and electro-technical products. Germany's main exports to Indonesia include machinery, electronic and chemical products.

Rau became the third foreign top state official to visit Indonesia this year after Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Brazilian President Fernando Hendrique Cardoso. (byg)