Soeharto and entourage head for Turkey summit
Soeharto and entourage head for Turkey summit
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto and his entourage leave today
for Istanbul to attend the first summit of eight predominantly
Islamic developing countries, known as the D-8.
The entourage includes Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono,
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, ambassador-at-large Nana
Sutresna and senior economist Widjojo Nitisastro. The President's
second daughter, Siti Hediyati Prabowo, is also expected to
accompany him.
The summit will go ahead despite the crisis affecting the
coalition government of Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan
after its prolonged tension with the military.
"We have been assured that the coalition government will not
fall, at least during the summit," a senior State Palace official
said Wednesday.
The summit, to be chaired by Turkish President Sulayman
Demirel, will take place at Ciragam Palace.
The D-8 groups Indonesia and Malaysia representing East Asia;
Bangladesh and Pakistan representing South Asia; Turkey and Iran
representing the Middle East; and Egypt and Nigeria representing
Africa.
Necmettin Erbakan proposed the summit in a meeting with
Soeharto in Jakarta, last August.
D-8 membership is open to countries with more than 40 million
people. Malaysia is an exception because it is regarded as a
prominent developing country.
Moerdiono said last week: "The president will emphasize the
importance of poverty alleviation programs because poverty is the
most fundamental problem facing developing countries."
At the summit, Soeharto is expected to propose the
establishment of fertilizer plants, production of cheap housing
materials and other projects.
In his speech at the World Food Summit last November in Rome,
Soeharto proposed joint efforts to build fertilizer plants, which
use natural gas that is being burned into waste at many gas
fields.
He said cheap fertilizer would help farmers in poor countries
boost rice production.
After signing the summit declaration, Soeharto and the other
delegation heads will hold a joint press conference.
"The president will arrive back in Jakarta on June 16,"
Moerdiono said. (06)