TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President of the United States, Michael Pence, arrived at the Jakarta Halim Perdana Kusuma airport on Wednesday at 11:30 pm local time.

The US vice president along with his wife Karen Pence and their two daughters aboard the US presidential aircraft the United States Of America number 80002, upon arrival from Tokyo were greeted by the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan at the airport.

Other ranking officials who greeted Pence including the Indonesian ambassador to the US, Bowo Leksono and the US ambassador to Indonesia, Joseph Donovan.

Pence left Japan for Indonesia on Wednesday after ending his trip to Tokyo at 05:45pm local time.

While in Indonesia up to April 21, Pence is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Joko Widodo at the Merdeka Palace and later hold bilateral talks with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the Vice Presidential Palace on Thursday.

He will also visit Istiqlal Grand Mosque and hold a dialog with leaders of different religions.

From Istiqlal Mosque, he will hold a meeting with the ASEAN secretary general as part of a series of activities marking the 40th anniversary of the US-Asian relations.

On Friday (April 21), Pence and Kalla will witness the signing of Memorandums of Understanding after opening and addressing the US-Indonesia Business Meeting held at Hotel Shangrila, Jakarta.

The MoUs signing will be with five companies in the fields of energy and information technology.

The five US companies that will sign the MoUs are General Electric (GE), Applied Materials (AMAT), Lockhead Martin, Honeywell, and Greenbelt Waste Resources.

ANTARA