Staff correspondent :

President Mohammed Shahabuddin will leave Dhaka for Jakarta on Monday to join the 43rd ‘ASEAN Summit’ and 18th ‘East Asia Summit’ to be held from September 5-7.

From Indonesian’s capital Jakarta, the Head of the State would go to Singapore for health cheek up on September 8.

“A VVIP aircraft (BG 1910) of Bangladesh Biman Airlines, carrying the President along with his spouse Prof Dr Rebecca Sultana and other entourages, is scheduled to depart the Hazrat Shahjalal (R.) International Airport (HSIA) at noon on Monday . . . and will land at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK), Jakarta at 1815 hrs on the day,” President’s press secretary Md Joynal Abedin told BSS today.

Chairperson of the National Advisory Committee for Autism and Neurodevelopment Disorders Saima Wazed Hossain and Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen will also accompany the President during the visit.

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia and ASEAN Chair for 2023 Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, the Bangabhaban spokesman said the President will attend the 43rd ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit and 18th East Asia Summit at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) on September 5-7.

With the theme of “Asean Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”, the 43rd ASEAN Summit is being held in Jakarta with a hectic agenda for three days.

Mohammed Shahabuddin will be staying at the Presidential Suite at Hotel Le Meridian in Jakarta.

Bangladesh President Shahabuddin, on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, would also attend the 18th ‘East Asia Summit’ slated for September 7.

The President will deliver the concluding speech on “Strengthening Regional Architecture to Support the Epicentrum of Growth from the Perspective of IORA” as the “Guest of Chair” there.

Besides, the President will hold separate bilateral meetings with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo and some other state leaders of Thailand, Malaysia and Timor-Leste.

On September 6, the President will attend a ‘Gala Dinner’ to be hosted by Indonesian president Jokowi at Hutan Kota Gelora Bung Karno.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo will chair 12 meetings during the 43rd ASEAN Summit. The ASEAN is an intergovernmental organization of 11 Southeast Asian countries – Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor Leste or East Timor.

The ASEAN Summit is a biannual meeting held by its members in relation to economic, political, security, and socio-cultural development of Southeast Asian countries. In addition, it serves as a prominent regional (Asia) and international (worldwide) conference, with world leaders attending its related summits and meetings to discuss various problems and global issues, strengthening co-operation, and making decisions.

The Indonesian president is scheduled to lead about 12 meetings during the summit, whether conference or non-conference meetings.

Later, Indonesian President will also chair the 18th East Asia Summit (EAS), which consists of 18 members, including the 10 ASEAN countries, the United States, the Russian Federation, New Zealand, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, and India, according to ASEAN secretariat.

The leaders of the Pacific Island Forum, the Prime Minister of Canada, the Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank (World Bank) are also planning to attend the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta, said a news released in the website.

The 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta will discuss the development and strengthening of ASEAN cooperation with external partners.

The 43rd ASEAN Summit will discuss several important themes as the Code of Conduct regarding the South China Sea, the South East Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (SEANWFZ), the ASEAN Maritime Outlook, the ASEAN Outlook in Indo Pacific (AOIP), and issues related to Myanmar.

In addition, it is expected that the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta will also produce several important agreements, such as agreements related to ASEAN infrastructure strengthening, food security, blue economy, and green economy, as well as the digital economy and payment ecosystem.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Dr Momen told BSS that apart from discussions on bilateral cooperation on different sectors, two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on energy and health collaboration between Bangladesh and Indonesia are likely to be signed during the visit of President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

Meanwhile, winding up the 43rd ASEAN Summit and 18th East Asia Summit, President Shahabuddin along with his spouse Prof Dr Rebecca Sultana will leave Jakarta for Singapore for health cheek up.

The President is expected to return home from Singapore by an aircraft (BG-585) of Bangladesh Biman Airlines on September 16 evening, reads the programme schedule.

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