President off to Indonesia to attend ASEAN summit

President Mohammed Shahabuddin has left Dhaka for the Indonesian capital Jakarta to attend the 43rd 'ASEAN Summit' and 18th 'East Asia Summit' to be held on September 5-7.

A commercial flight (BG-584) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd carrying the President along with his spouse Dr Rebecca Sultana and other entourage members, left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) for Jakarta at 8:30am on Monday.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq, dean of the diplomatic corps, cabinet secretary, chiefs of the three services, inspector general of police (IGP) and senior civil and military officials saw him off at the airport.

The aircraft will reach Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta, at 1730 (local time) after one hour and 50 minutes stopover at Changi International Airport, Singapore.

Earlier, the aircraft would take three hours and 15 minutes to land at Changi International Airport, Singapore from HSIA.

Later, the Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight after declaring it VVIP (BG 1910) will fly to the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

At the invitation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia and ASEAN Chair for 2023 Joko Widodo, the Bangabhaban spokesman said the President will attend the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit and the East Asia Summit at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC).

With the theme of "ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth", the ASEAN Summit will be held with a hectic agenda for three days.

He, on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, will also attend the '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.

He will also have separate bilateral meetings with his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo and state leaders of Thailand, Malaysia and Timor-Leste.

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

After wrapping up his Indonesia tour, the Head of State along with his spouse will go to Singapore for a health check-up on September 8.

The president is expected to return home on September 16.

/KN/