Mega to make historic visit to Bangladesh
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri will depart on Wednesday for a 10-day trip across Asia, which will include a historic visit to Bangladesh.
Mongolia, Japan and Vietnam will be the next destination of the President when she completes her three-day official visit to the world's third most populous Muslim country.
Megawati will be the first Indonesian president to visit Bangladesh, although she once toured the country in 2000 when she was the vice president.
A senior diplomat said on Monday that the visit would be a major boost for relations, which had been slightly overlooked in the past decades although Indonesia was among the first countries that recognize Bangladesh's independence in 1971.
However, the acknowledgment was not followed by steps to improve relations despite the many similarities of the two countries.
Currently, Megawati and Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia are the only women who lead major Muslim countries and both are struggling with a multitude of domestic problems, especially in the struggle against poverty.
The plan by an Indonesian president to visit Bangladesh was actually made during the brief tenure of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, who was forced to step down in July 2001.
Megawati decided to go ahead with the plan, citing the importance for Indonesia to improve the long-standing relations.
Dhaka officials said Bangladesh will seek to increase its exports to Indonesia, which currently has a trade surplus with Bangladesh.
Last year, Bangladesh imported from Indonesia mineral products, plastics, chemicals and machinery worth US$174 million and exported US$6 million worth of jute, leather and ready-made garments.
Bangladesh will offer to export silk fabric, ceramic tiles, sanitary goods and artificial flowers. It will also seek Indonesian investment in the garment industry, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals.
Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda said the trips to Bangladesh and Mongolia were aimed at renewing Indonesia's relationship with the two Asian countries.
"No Indonesian president has visited Bangladesh and the last time an Indonesian president visited Mongolia was Sukarno in 1957," Hassan said.
Megawati will visit Mongolia, following the Mongolian president's visit to Jakarta earlier this year.
The Japan trip will be Megawati's the second of her tenure as the President. She has been invited by Japan and is slated to meet the country's top leaders, including Emperor Akihito.
"We have always considered Japan to be one of Indonesia's good friends," a presidential official said. Japan played a crucial role in the efforts to attempt to bring peace and security to the war-torn province of Aceh.
In Japan, Megawati will be received for the first time as the country's national guest, as her last visit to the country in 2001 was a working visit.
In the last stop of the visit, the President will visit Vietnam, where she is expected to complete the continental shelf agreement for the Natuna islands area, which was agreed upon by the two governments last month.
During the visit she is expected to face a lot of criticism due to the government's intense military operation in Aceh, which was put under martial law on May 19 just hours after peace talks failed in Japan.
Several ministers relating to the economy and finance will accompany the President, while Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda, will join the entourage later as he is currently attending the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) in Phnom Penh and the Asia Development retreat in Chiang Mai, Thailand until June 22.
Megawati, who will bring along around 90 other people, is slated to return to Jakarta on June 28.