President Megawati leaves for eight-day ASEAN trip

JAKARTA (JP): President Megawati Soekarnoputri is leaving home on Tuesday for her first official visit to the nine member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to start strengthening ties with them.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said, after meeting the President on Monday, that by making her first foreign overseas trip to ASEAN countries it showed Indonesia's commitment to the grouping.

"ASEAN will remain the cornerstone of our foreign policy," Hassan said.

During the eight-day whirlwind trip, the President will make state visits to the Philippines and Malaysia and working visits to another seven countries.

The first stop will be the Philippines, to meet President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Megawati will then travel to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia before returning home on Aug. 28.

Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and senior minister Lee Kuan Yew, as well as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, are among the leaders who will have bilateral talks with Megawati.

In Cambodia, King Norodom Sihanouk is scheduled to welcome Megawati and her entourage at the airport.

Megawati's entourage will include Hassan, State Secretary/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo, several House of Representatives members, her husband Taufik Kiemas and daughter Puan Maharani.

After visiting ASEAN, Megawati will again embark on another foreign trip to, among other countries, the United States on Sept. 19, at the invitation of the U.S. President George W. Bush.

In the U.S., Megawati is also scheduled to address the plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly.

On her way home from Washington, Megawati will visit Japan, but a date has not yet been fixed.

"What is clear is that, at the end of September, on her return from the United States, she will visit Japan, among other places," he said. (dja)