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S Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will visit Jakarta from Feb.18-19 as part of her first overseas trip, which many see as an effort by the new US administration to embrace emerging Asia as part of the solution to its domestic crisis.

On Friday, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda announced that his counterpart Clinton would spend two days in Indonesia, during which she was scheduled to meet with him and later President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Clinton will kick off her trip on Feb. 15 with a visit to Japan, before heading for Indonesia, South Korea and China.

"The decision to visit East Asia first is something new *by the US administration*. In the past, we observed that the *secretary of state* would fly to Europe for their first official visit," he said.

Hassan did not disclose what agendas Jakarta would highlight at the meetings, but said the choice of destination showed that Washington "placed great importance in developing a better partnership with Indonesia".

"We heard at last night's press briefing the United States mention the importance of Indonesia as the world's biggest Muslim-majority country, one that upholds the values of democracy, human rights and pluralism. We can have partnerships within this context," he said.

On Thursday, the US State Department said Clinton would discuss "financial market turmoil", as well as security, climate change and humanitarian issues during her eight-day trip, an agenda experts believe is aimed at securing global partnerships for the country as it reels from political and economic setbacks.

"This is a restructuring of US foreign policy, after we saw it pour more attention to the Middle East," said Rizal Sukma, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Clinton has called for a "smart power" strategy in solving the global crisis, especially the Middle East issue, in a policy break with previous administration policies that led to the plunge of US leverage on the international stage. In her criticism, during her Senate speech last month, of the Bush administration's military approach, Clinton emphasized the role of diplomacy and global cooperation with various countries, including Indonesia, to reduce worldwide threats.

"The US will not leave its longtime allies in Europe by visiting Asia first. *Clinton's* visit seeks to make sure that it does not lose its clout in the emerging regions that are getting stronger and stronger, either politically or economically," said Bantarto Bandoro of the Institute of Defense and Security Studies.

Indonesia will be the first Muslim-majority country Clinton will visit since taking up office a month ago, signaling the US administration's new focus on enhancing partnerships with countries with "dynamic relations with hard-line Muslim countries", a scholar said.

"The US had hinted about leaning toward Indonesia to bridge negotiations with the Muslim world, where it has suffered a backlash over Bush's policies," University of Indonesia international relations expert Hariyadi Wirawan said.