Swedish FM visits RI to strengthen ties

Veeramalla Anjaiah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 04/21/2008 10:36 AM  |  World

Sweden's high-profile foreign minister Carl Bildt will visit Jakarta on Monday and Tuesday to strengthen his country's ties with Indonesia.

Bildt, a technological whiz, was invited to Indonesia by Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda.

The visit is something special for both countries.

"This is the first bilateral visit by a Swedish foreign minister," Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia Ann Marie Bolin Pennegard told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

During the visit, Pennegard said, Bildt and Hassan will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues.

To mark a new beginning, the two ministers will launch the Sweden-Indonesia Human Rights Dialogue. The two-day inaugural workshop will be opened by Indonesia's Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata on Wednesday in Jakarta.

The Swedish Embassy is not stopping there. It is organizing a seminar on "Sustainable Cities -- Challenges for Indonesia and Sweden" on Thursday in Jakarta.

Pennegard said the seminar would be organized in cooperation with Indonesia's State Ministry for the Environment, the Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia in Bangkok and the Swedish Business Association in Jakarta.

"Indonesia's State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar will give the keynote address at the seminar," Pennegard said.

Bildt is not only Sweden's chief diplomat but also a former prime minister (1991-1994). He introduced crucial economic reforms and transformed Sweden into a global telecommunications power.

He may also be one of Europe's top peace negotiators and diplomats. In his roles as the EU's special envoy to the former Yugoslavia, co-chairman of the Dayton peace conference, the EU's high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and finally the UN Secretary-General's special envoy to the Balkans, Bildt was a significant contributor to bringing peace to the Balkans.

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