SBY dons diplomatic and marketing hats in Chile
SBY dons diplomatic and marketing hats in Chile
Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Santiago
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono raised the Palestinian issue with U.S. President George W. Bush; explored ways of improving defense ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and of jointly fighting terrorism with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin; and sought greater investment from Japan during his meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. And he urged all four to send investors to the infrastructure summit he plans to hold in Jakarta in January.
On top of all that, he took part in an informal meeting, or retreat, with the other 20 leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which held its summit here this weekend. The former Army general also managed to find time to gave a speech to APEC business leaders on the security challenges facing the world economy.
And so passed the second day of the new President's international debut here. Susilo the diplomat at times also became Susilo the salesman.
By the time he leaves Santiago and heads home for Jakarta on Sunday night (Monday morning in Jakarta), the Indonesian president will have held individual meetings with nine leaders, attended two rounds of APEC summits, and met with many business leaders either individually or in groups.
Shortly after his arrival here on Friday following a 34-hour flight, Susilo met with Trand Duc Luong of Vietnam, John Howard of Australia, Ricardo Lagos of Chile, Helen Clark of New Zealand and Hu Jintao of China.
Dino Pati Jalal, his chief spokesman, said that during the meeting with Bush, Susilo had asked that he restart the Middle East peace process with the objective of establishing a viable, sovereign and independent state of Palestine.
In spite of the seriousness of the matters discussed, Dino described the meeting as very cordial and very friendly, interspersed with humor.
"There was good chemistry. This is a good sign (for future relations between the two countries," pronounced Dino, who was director for North and Central America at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before joining Susilo's team last month.
The two leaders congratulated each other following their recent election victories, and Susilo used the occasion to discuss political reform and the future of democracy in Indonesia.
Bush also assured Susilo that his administration would strive to fully normalize military-to-military relations between the two countries. An embargo on the sale of lethal weapons to Indonesia remains in place at Congress's insistence until Indonesia shows some measure of credible accountability for the mayhem in East Timor, then still under Jakarta control, in 1999.
The embargo has forced Indonesia to turn to other sources, including Russia. The issue of Indonesia's desire to purchase more weapons was discussed by Susilo and Putin in Santiago.
Their discussion also touched on the insurgencies that both were facing, Putin in Chechnya and Susilo in Aceh, according to Dino.
Susilo and Prime Minister Martin discussed a new bilateral program to jointly combat terrorism through the early detection of "chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear weapons".
Martin also urged Susilo to reopen Indonesia's market to Canadian beef, which has been banned because of the outbreak of mad cow disease last year.
Koizumi pushed for a new economic partnership agreement to lay down new foundations for economic relations between the two countries.
The Japanese leader asked Indonesia to address the problem of piracy in the Strait of Malacca, pointing to recurring attacks on ships carrying vital goods bound for or coming from Japan.
One thing that is clear from the matters Susilo discussed with all of these leaders is that his planned "infrastructure summit" has become something of a personal obsession.
The President has said that the key to sustainable economic development is the putting in place of the necessary infrastructure, including roads, railways, ports and airports, clean water and irrigation facilities, and power plants.
The total cost? $72 billion over the next five years.
To raise that kind of money, President Susilo will probably need a lot more than his diplomatic and marketing hats.