Japanese alumni to meet in Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): A kokoro-to-kokoro (heart-to-heart) meeting of Southeast Asian graduates of Japanese universities begins here today.

The three-day conference of the ASEAN Council of Japan Alumni (ASCOJA) at Sahid Jaya Hotel is expected to attract some 150 graduates, including many who now hold senior government positions in their countries.

Vice President Try Sutrisno is scheduled to address the forum tomorrow.

The association of Indonesian alumni of Japanese universities (Persada) is hosting the event. The association boasts more than 8,000 members.

Two members of the present Indonesian cabinet studied in Japan: Ginandjar Kartasasmita, the minister for national development planning, and manpower minister Abdul Latief.

It is not clear whether the ministers will attend the meeting, but the organizers said Ginandjar had prepared a paper to be delivered by an aide at the conference.

Other participants are members of the various alumni associations in their respective countries, such as JUGAM (Malaysia), JUGAS (Singapore), Philfeja (Philippines) and JASAB (Brunei). There will also be representatives from the Japan Solidarity Committee for ASEAN Alumni (JASCAA). Representatives from the three new ASEAN members -- Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar -- will also attend as observers.

The meeting is the 12th to be held by the ASCOJA and coincides with its 20th anniversary.

Japan is the main trading partner of most ASEAN countries, as well as their major source of foreign aid and foreign investment.

The organizers said Ginandjar's paper will be on Indonesia's poverty eradication drive. The Philippines will present a paper discussing the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysian-Philippine growth area; Malaysia will present a paper on the concept of smart schools; Singapore on the ties between ASEAN's Japanese alumni and Japan; and Thailand on the country's drive to contain AIDS.