S. Africa's President Mbeki will be first leader to arrive in Jakarta

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

South African President Thabo Mbeki will be the first head of state to arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday to attend the historic Asian-African Summit (AAS).

South Africa is the co-sponsor of the two-day AAS, which will be held from April 22 to April 23, along with Indonesia. Leaders from more than 100 countries are expected to attend the summit, whose main aim is to forge a new strategic partnership between Asian and African states.

"President Thabo Mbeki will arrive in Jakarta on Tuesday. The main purpose of this visit is two-fold. One is a state visit, which will begin on Tuesday. The second is to attend the Asian- African Summit as co-sponsor," the South African Embassy in Jakarta said on Monday.

Around 60 heads of state/government are expected to arrive in Jakarta on Thursday.

President Mbeki's two-day state visit is intended to strengthen the existing ties with Indonesia as part of the envisaged new partnership.

Both Indonesia and South Africa are regional powers in their respective regions.

Mike Membukwe, counselor at the South African Embassy, told The Jakarta Post that his foreign minister, Nkosozana Dlamini Zuma, arrived late on Monday to participate in the Asian-African Ministerial Meeting, which will be held on April 20.

Both President Mbeki and Zuma will participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Asian-African Conference, which was held in Bandung, the West Java capital, in 1955.

South Africa was not invited to the 1955 Bandung Conference as it was still governed by the apartheid regime at that time. But the African National Congress, the present ruling party, sent Cachalia, Nagdee and Mosen Kotane to Bandung as observers.