Soeharto touches down in Laos for the first time
Soeharto touches down in Laos for the first time
VIENTIANE (Agencies): Indonesia's President Soeharto, on his first ever trip here, was given a royal welcome yesterday for a visit to Laos which is expected to boost its hopes of joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) later in 1997.
Soeharto received a red-carpet welcome from President Nouhak Phoumsavanh at the presidential palace.
After introducing his 48-member delegation which included Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono and his daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, Soeharto paid a courtesy call on Phoumsavanh at the Ho Kham presidential palace.
The Indonesian president arrived here from Phnom Penh for the second leg of his three-nation tour. He is scheduled to leave for Yangon tomorrow.
After inspecting the palace guard of honor Soeharto had a private lunch and spent the afternoon free from official engagements.
He was scheduled to attend a state banquet hosted by President Nouhak yesterday evening at the presidential palace.
Noting that Laos's trade with Indonesia is tiny, observers said the real purpose of Soeharto's visit is to help prepare Laos' bid to join ASEAN, where it currently enjoys observer status.
"In general, it's a goodwill visit tied to ASEAN membership. Indonesia is cementing ties with smaller partners likely to come on board," a western diplomat told AFP.
Observers see the admission of Laos to ASEAN as a sure thing and believe it could become a full member in July when the ASEAN ministers meet in Kuala Lumpur.
While Myanmar and Cambodia are also likely to be admitted to ASEAN, some members of the European Union at last week's ASEAN- Europe foreign ministers meeting (ASEM) voiced concern over Myanmar's human rights record.
The Indonesian delegation downplayed the question of ASEAN membership on this official visit, saying the issue was not on the official agenda.
"Soeharto is not coming here to discuss that. It is a kind of reply visit after the (Lao) president visited Jakarta in 1994 and the prime minister in 1996," Suhaswoto Hidyoningrat, deputy chief of protocol for presidential programs told AFP.
Soeharto's three-day stay in Vientiane will include official meetings with Nouhak and Prime Minister Khamtay Siphandone today, while Alatas is expected to meet with his counterpart Somsavat Lengsavath.
Soeharto is also expected to witness the signing of two accords on bilateral cooperation in agriculture and forestry today as well as a bilateral air transportation accord, an Indonesian diplomat said.
The agricultural deal will establish exchanges of technology, data and personnel to promote cooperation in production processing and marketing. The forestry accord will set up similar exchanges.
Prior to leaving Phnom Penh yesterday, Soeharto took time to meet with representatives from the Islamic community in the Cambodian capital.
The group was represented by an eight-member delegation led by Tol Lah, Cambodia's education, youth and sports minister.
Tol Lah explained that Moslems in Cambodia mainly consists of the Champa tribe. He said there are about 500,000 Moslems and 280 mosques throughout the country.