Australian home affairs minister visits Jakarta

Sun, 02/24/2008 8:11 PM | World

JAKARTA (JP): Australia's minister for home affair Bob Debus is scheduled to make his first visit to Indonesia this week to strengthen bilateral ties in a range of areas including law enforcement as well as legal and customs cooperation, the Australian embassy in Jakarta said Sunday in a statement.

Debus, who will be in Jakarta from 24 to 26 Feb., is scheduled to meet a number of Indonesian ministers and officials, including Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani as well as Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalatta.

Bob Debus was the 10th Federal Government minister to visit Indonesia since December 2007 swearing in of the new Australian government.

Australian ambassador to Indonesia Bill Farmer said the visit provided further evidence of the new Australian government's commitment to strengthening cooperation with Indonesia across range of issues.

"The prime minister and foreign minister Stephen Smith have both emphasized that Australia's engagement with our neighbors in Asia-Pacific region will be one of the main pillars of the government's foreign policy, along with the U.S. alliance and emphasis on the United Nations and multilateral institutions," Farmer said in the statement.

Minister Bob Debus will also discuss the wide range of joint activities under way between Australian and Indonesian officials to combat illegal fishing, smuggling and other cross-border crimes in the region in meetings with Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddie Numberi, and the head of Indonesia's Maritime Security Coordinating Board.

He is also scheduled to call on the National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto and inspect Transnational Crime Center and Bomb Data Center in Jakarta, which both developed with funding and technical support from the Australian government.

Debus will also received a briefing on the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), a joint initiative develop with A$37 million (US$34.1 million) in Australian government funding as a training center to strengthen law enforcement capacity and cooperation across the region. (**)