Schedule for ASEAN Ministerial Meeting

July 20

- The ASEAN Foreign Ministers, accompanied by Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, have a 20-minute audience with President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace followed by the opening ceremony at the State Palace.

- After lunch, the Foreign Ministers go to the Jakarta Convention Center for a ceremony welcoming Myanmar as an ASEAN observer. The official start of the 29th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting then follows.

July 21

- Continuation of the ASEAN ministerial meeting.

- After lunch, consultative meetings will take place concurrently with the four ASEAN observers. The consultative meeting with Cambodia will be chaired by Indonesia; the meeting with Laos chaired by Thailand; the meeting with Myanmar chaired by the Philippines; and the consultative meeting with Papua New Guinea chaired by Vietnam.

- Closing session of the 29th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, in which Alatas as presiding chairman and Malaysia's Abdullah Badawi as the next chairman will present a closing statement.

- Alatas in the evening then hosts a dinner for the ministers.

July 22

- Arrival of foreign ministers attending the ASEAN Regional Forum.

- In the evening, an informal working dinner at the Jakarta Convention Center.

July 23

- The start of the ASEAN Regional Forum. After lunch, the foreign ministers proceed to the State Palace for a 30-minute audience with President Soeharto.

July 24

- The start of the Post Ministerial Conferences (PMC).

- Lunchtime will be filled with various bilateral working lunches. Separate meetings between ASEAN ministers and dialog partners.

July 25

- Bilateral working breakfasts between Malaysia and Canada, Singapore and the European Union, Vietnam and Russia.

- A signing ceremony on: the Protocol Amending the Agreement on ASEAN Energy Cooperation by the seven ASEAN ministers; signing and exchange of letters on amendments to the MOU on ASEAN-Canada Cooperative Program on Marine Sciences.

- After the closing ceremony, the week's events will be topped off by a joint press conference by all the ministers attending the PMC. (mds)