President Megawati leaves for eight-day ASEAN trip

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)