Howard to visit Indonesia

Howard to visit Indonesia

SYDNEY Australia (AFP): Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced that he will visit Indonesia for talks with President Soeharto next month, his second trip to Indonesia in little more than a year.

Howard will make a stopover in Jakarta on Oct. 29 on his return from the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Edinburgh from Oct. 24 to Oct. 27.

The Jakarta visit, which will focus on the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Vancouver in late November, underscores the high priority given by Canberra to relations with its nearest Asian neighbor.

"I look forward to the opportunity to continue the very good discussions that President Soeharto and I began during my first overseas visit in September last year," Howard said in a statement on Wednesday.

During CHOGM, Howard will address a Commonwealth business forum being held to coincide with the summit, which has a trade, investment and development theme this year.

"I hope that it will contribute to maintaining the momentum of global trade and investment liberalization," he said.