Soeharto inspects final APEC preparations in Bogor
Soeharto inspects final APEC preparations in Bogor
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto on Saturday led a thorough
inspection of the Bogor Presidential Palace to ensure that
preparations were adequate and that "all systems were go" for the
APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting (AELM) on Nov. 15.
During the three-hour check-up, Soeharto, who was accompanied
by his wife Tien Soeharto and other government officials and
ministers, also practiced welcoming each guest at the limousines
from which they will disembark.
The 18 economic leaders who make up the APEC (Asia Pacific
Economic Cooperation) group will arrive at the historic palace in
individual limousines in five-minute intervals, each leader with
a 10-car entourage plus several motorbike convoys.
Abdul Rachman Ramly, former Indonesian Ambassador to the
United States, accompanied Soeharto during the inspection and
took the initiative to act as one of the President's guests.
He pretended to come out of a limousine and was received not
only with the usual handshake from Soeharto, who immediately took
his stand at the Palace entrance, but got a pat on the back as
well.
Soeharto guided his "counterpart" to his right side and gave
several minutes for "photographers", who will be standing on a
10-meter long podium in front of the main entrance, to snap their
shots.
The Bogor Palace, built in 1745 by Dutch governor general
Gustav Willem van Inhoff, is said to have been one of the
favorite leisure spots for Indonesia's first president Sukarno.
The president also had numerous statues of nude females scattered
around the 28 hectares of Palace grounds.
17-meter podium
The AELM will take place in the Garuda Room of the main
building. The back of the room has been equipped with a 17-meter
long podium for the APEC leaders to stand on when photographers
take their pictures and for when the leaders report the results
of their talks to the mass media.
Another 30-meter podium across from this has been set up to
accommodate journalists and reporters who will attend the press
conferences.
After checking out the Teratai Room, where the leaders will
wait while the other dignitaries arrive, Soeharto inspected the
facilities prepared for news media.
He received detailed information on the dozens of telephone
booths set up there and the special room prepared to accommodate
awaiting journalists and reporters.
Special performances are scheduled to entertain the media
people to keep them from getting bored.
Mini studios have also been set up for the electronic media
such as Indonesia's TVRI, Japan's NHK and TBC, the U.S.' CNN as
well as Reuters, AFP and WTI. (pwn)
Breakthrough -- Page 10