Mega, Koizumi to cochair ASEAN-Japan summit

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri is leaving for Japan on Wednesday to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations- Japan commemorative summit aimed at improving relations between ASEAN and Japan.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Friday that the summit would issue a joint declaration and an action plan for new initiatives.

"Japan has always been the main source of investment in the region and we expect that it will maintain this role, despite the new economic development in China," he said.

Hassan said the region expected Japan to continue to boost investments in sectors such as trade and oil and gas.

"Japan remains a major buyer of Indonesia's oil and gas and we wish to maintain this, even if the region has a new player in China."

All 10 ASEAN leaders are slated to attend the two-day summit that will begin on Dec. 11 in Tokyo. Preceding the meeting is an investment forum on Dec. 10.

The summit, co-chaired by Megawati and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is expected to issue a Tokyo Declaration for a dynamic and enduring ASEAN-Japan partnership in the new millennium, which will be annexed to the ASEAN-Japan action plan.

"The declaration will cover a wide range of issues, from economic to political, to security cooperation," Hassan said.

During the summit, Japan is also expected to formalize its accession to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, following the move by China in October.

The ASEAN partner country next in line to join the treaty is Russia.

Hassan said the summit would be broken down into two sessions, with the first focusing on evaluating the 10-year relationship between ASEAN and Japan, to be chaired by Megawati.

Prime Minister Koizumi will chair the second session on the future outlook for ASEAN-Japan relations.

Megawati is also slated to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Achmad Badawi on the sidelines of the summit, the first meeting between the two leaders after Badawi's installment in October.

The presidential entourage will then leave for Shanghai, China, on Dec. 13, where she will stay overnight. No official itinerary has been scheduled for the President in Shanghai.

Following, the entourage will leave for Pakistan on Dec. 14 to discuss various bilateral issues.

"It is only fair for the President to visit Pakistan, since she has already visited India. The two countries are good friends of Indonesia," Hassan said.

In Pakistan, Megawati is to meet President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Zafarulah Khan Jamail, and visit an industrial complex in Taxila.

Three memorandums of understanding on the eradication of drug trafficking, on education and the establishment of a joint commission is expected to be signed during the visit.

Megawati is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Dec. 17.