Meeting NotYet Scheduled between Jokowi,Duterte: Foreign Ministry

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to visit Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia.

The Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said presidential visits are common. “It’s a tradition for new presidents to visit [Southeast Asia],” he said Thursday at the Foreign Ministry office building, Jakarta.

The Foreign Ministry has yet to confirm when the meeting between Duterte and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will take place. “We will check President Jokowi’s schedule first,” Arrmanatha Nasir said.

President Jokowi and President Duterte are likely to meet at a the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, on September 6-8, 2016.

Director for ASEAN Politics and Security, the Foreign Ministry, Chandra Widya Yudha said the meetings will be held back to back. “The plenary session will be the 28th meeting whereas the retreat session will be the 29th meeting,” Chandra said.

In the 28th ASEAN Summit, all member states will discuss the implementation of the AEC blueprint 2025. In the 29th ASEAN Summit, regional and international economic issues will become the topics. Indonesia will raise maritime issues in the conference. “The main topics are the resilience and relevance of ASEAN,” Chandra said.

ADITYA BUDIMAN