Lao President's visit here to strengthen relations

JAKARTA (JP): Visiting Laotian President Nouhak Phoumsavanh is scheduled to have a two-hour closed meeting with President Soeharto today to discuss a number of bilateral and international issues.

Nouhak arrived yesterday with an entourage of 18 people to begin a six-day state sojourn which will include the West Java town of Bandung and the holiday resort island of Bali.

Greeted by Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and Governor of Jakarta Surjadi Soedirdja at Soekarno-Hatta airport yesterday afternoon, the Laotian President was then whisked to Merdeka Palace where he was given a military welcome by President Soeharto.

Prior to his meeting with Soeharto today, Phoumsavan is scheduled to lay a wreath at the Kalibata heroes cemetery.

Meanwhile Laotian First Lady Bounma Phoumsavanh will visit the National Monument and the museum as well as indulge in a bit of "window-shopping" escorted Mrs. Ibrahim Hasan, the wife of the Minister of Food.

The former French protectorate of Laos gained independence as a constitutional monarchy in 1949. However after several years of internal strife it became a democratic republic in 1975.

This land-locked country of 4.2 million is mainly an agrarian- based society with only about one-fifth of the population living in urban areas.

Laos and Indonesia have maintained cordial relations and have thus far avoided any sort of bilateral dispute.

Presently Laos holds observer status in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which groups Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Though it has yet to express interest, many expect that Laos will eventually join ASEAN in the future.

It is expected that today's discussion between Soeharto and Nouhak will focus on economic affairs with minor discussions on international political affairs and maybe even touch on Laos' membership in ASEAN.

Tomorrow Nouhak is due to make a brief stopover in Bandung to visit the Asia-Africa museum and the state-aircraft manufacturing company (IPTN) before spending his remaining few days here in Bali.

Nouhak will visit various tourist sites and learn about the local irrigation system called subak. He will leave Bali on Saturday to continue his trip to Thailand. (mds)