Susilo and entourage off to Chile for APEC Summit

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left the country on Thursday for a five-day overseas trip to attend the 10th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Santiago.

Departing from Halim Perdanakusuma air base, the President took along a 80-strong entourage, including Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda and Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi on his second foreign trip since taking office on Oct. 20.

It will be the first international forum Susilo has attended as president. He is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with several world leaders to introduce his administration's program and develop better relations with the countries on the sidelines of the summit.

First Lady Kristiani Herawati was among his entourage.

The President is also expected to address an economic seminar after the summit, where he will deliver a speech on the challenges of security on the world economy.

Susilo is scheduled to arrive in Santiago on Friday. He will meet with the Indonesian community upon arrival.

On the second day of his visit, he will hold bilateral talks with Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar, New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Chinese President Hu Jin Tao.

On Sunday, Susilo will meet Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Russian President Vladimir Putin, United States President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda said that apart from discussing general topics, President Susilo would address standing issues with each country, including the ongoing military embargo imposed by the U.S., the Indonesian migrant workers issue in Malaysia and military industries cooperation with China.

The President is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Tuesday evening.

Less than a week upon arrival from Santiago, Susilo will fly to Vientiane for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, scheduled to take place on Nov. 27.

In his first national speech since taking office on Wednesday, the President stressed his administration's effort to improve international cooperation, particularly in ASEAN, APEC, the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and the Asia-Africa forum.

He hopes to learn the extent of the countries' commitment to investing in Indonesia and to other forms of economic cooperation in the first 100 days of his administration.

Susilo made his first trip abroad as President to Cairo, where he attended the funeral of Palestine President Yasser Arafat, who died last week.