Jokowi, Entourage Leave for US-ASEAN Summit in Chartered Garuda Indonesia Plane

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Head of the Presidential Secretariate Office Heru Budi Hartono on Tuesday explained that President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, will depart for Washington D.C. at 07:00 from the Soekarno-Hatta Airport aboard a chartered Garuda Indonesia aircraft. He will attend the annual US-ASEAN Summit held at the U.S. capital city. 

According to Heru, there are three main reasons the President decided not to utilize the Presidential Aircraft for the lengthy trip. 

“Firstly, the trip is extremely far and would need two transits aboard the presidential craft,” said Heru to Tempo on May 10. 

The second reason is the Presidential aircraft’s capacity that is limited to 48, which is clearly not viable to transport the President’s entourage of 62 people. The final reason is that it would be more efficient as a team will not have to be sent in advance to secure the area Jokowi will be landing.

“[Using the Presidential aircraft will need two transits and teams to be sent in advance. But with this plan, we only need to do it once,” he elaborated. 

Jokowi’s visit to the US was also mentioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its official Twitter account @Kemlu_RI. 

Previously in 2021, the special summit was held virtually due to the global pandemic limiting international travel. The US-ASEAN Summit itself will be attended by leaders of ASEAN countries and the United States President Joe Biden in talks of common international interests and intensifying partnerships across a multitude of fields. 

Starting from strengthening the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, global health security, climate change, sustainable development, maritime partnership, human resources development, education, and economic connectivity and involvement. 

Read: Jokowi to Depart for Washington D.C. to Attend the US-ASEAN Summit

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH