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.