Jakarta to host ASEAN-European Union ministerial meeting
Jakarta to host ASEAN-European Union ministerial meeting
Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
At least 11 ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU), including Malaysia's
Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, will meet in Jakarta on
Thursday to discuss ASEAN-EU relations, the reconstruction of
tsunami-affected areas, terrorism, transnational crime and other
matters related to regional cooperation.
Indonesia will host the 15th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting
(AEMM) on Thursday and the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on
Wednesday. Both meetings will be held at the Hotel Borobudur in
Central Jakarta.
"All of the preparations have been made for the AEMM and the
SOM. Security will be tight at the venue for the meetings," the
director of information and media at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Lutfi Rauf, told The Jakarta Post.
Lutfi said the AEMM will be covered by around 140 local as
well as foreign journalists.
Syed Hamid's presence in Jakarta will draw a lot of media
attention given the current tensions between Indonesia and
Malaysia over the oil-rich offshore area of Ambalat.
The Malaysian minister will hold a bilateral meeting with his
Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda on Wednesday to discuss
the dispute.
Marty Natalegawa, the director general of ASEAN-Indonesia at
the Indonesian foreign ministry, said the format of the AEMM
would involve troikas from both sides.
"The ASEAN troika will be represented by Laos (as the head of
the ASEAN Standing Committee), Indonesia (as the country
coordinator of the ASEAN-EU partnership) and Cambodia (as the
next country coordinator of the ASEAN-EU partnership). The EU
troika will consist of Luxembourg (as EU president), the European
Commission (EC) and the EU General Council," Marty told the Post
on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the European Union Delegation of the European
Commission to Indonesia said the EC would be represented by
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European commissioner for external
relations and the European neighborhood policy.
Ferrero-Waldner -- who will arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday --
will attend the AEMM, the Indonesia-EU Troika Ministerial Meeting
and visit tsunami-affected areas, including Banda Aceh.
In addition to Ferrero-Waldner, the EU troika will be
represented by Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn (EU
president) and the UK's Minister of State for Investment and
Foreign Affairs Douglas Alexander (next EU president).
"Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner will also hold bilateral talks
with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, State Minister for Development
Planning Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Minister of Justice and Human
Rights Hamid Awaluddin," the EU delegation of the European
Commission's office in Jakarta said in a statement sent to the
Post.
The EC has pledged US$455 million (350 million euros) for the
reconstruction of tsunami-affected areas in Indian Ocean
countries.
Of the 350 million euros, the EC plans to give 200 million
euros ($260 million) to Indonesia, where over 120,000 people died
in the tsunami.
Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, Italy's Minister of
State for Foreign Affairs Margherita Boniver and Slovakia's State
Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jozsef Berenyi will
arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Marty said the foreign ministers of Sweden, Cambodia, Laos and
Singapore also would participate in the AEMM.