Sjahrir attends leadership forum

JAKARTA: Chairman of the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PIB) Sjahrir will speak at the Asia-Inc. Forum on Leadership for Southeast Asia in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

The PIB presidential candidate will lead the discussion entitled "Indonesia Approaching the 2004 Presidential Election" at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Regional figures, including the Philippine's Minister of Agriculture Luiz Lorenzo, Thailand's former foreign minister Surin Pitsuwan and Daniel Wagner of the Asian Development Bank will also attend.

Other issues to be discussed during the two-day event which kicked off on Monday would include Muslims in Southeast Asia post-September 11 and the Iraq War, the economic impact of SARS and China-Southeast Asia relations.

Other participants from Indonesia are Jusuf Wanandi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies and marketing expert Hermawan Kertajaya from MarkPlus & Co.

Sjahrir was scheduled to hold talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad after dinner on Monday. -- JP