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resident Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono said Thursday he had reduced the number of official visits abroad to cut state expenses while advising his subordinates to do the same.

“My duties to participate in summits have increased,” he said.

Yudhoyono said earlier he was required to attend two summits this year, the ASEAN and APEC summits.

“Currently I have to attend five summits, two ASEAN Summits, including the East Asia Summit, one APEC summit, and two G20 summits,” he said in his opening speech at a Cabinet meeting Thursday.

“However, I have made less visits this year. I did not attend three summits and this was not common because all heads of government were present at these summits,” he added.

In the three meetings he skipped, Yudhoyono was instead represented by subordinates.

The 2010 Nuclear Security Summit on April 12 and 13 in Washington DC, was attended by Vice President Boediono.

The G15 Summit in Tehran, Iran, from May 14 to 17 was attended by Industry Minister M.S. Hidayat and the D8 Nigeria Summit in Abuja on July 7 was attended by Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Radjasa.

Yudhoyono said that apart from attending international meetings, he had also reduced the number of bilateral visits “by 15 percent since 2005”.

The President’s remarks come amid criticism over state expenses in relation to international trips.

Recently, the wing of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in the House of Representatives requested the President be transparent about the budget allocated for visits abroad.

A recent report from budget watchdog Fitra stated that during Yudhoyono’s first tenure between 2005 and 2009, the President allocated Rp 162 billion (US$18 million) each year for overseas travel. This figure was higher than that of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and the late Abdurrahman Wahid, which cost the state
Rp 48.8 billion and Rp 48 billion respectively, per year.

Entering his second tenure in 2009, Yudhoyono has made eight visits, both bilateral and international. Among the trips were two related to climate change talks. In December last year, he attended the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties 15 in Denmark. In May this year, he went to Norway to sign a $1 billion deal for bilateral agreement in reducing deforestation.

His latest trips were to Canada from June 24 to July 4 for a G-20 meeting and Turkey for a state visit. He continued the journey to Saudi Arabia to have minor haj.

Yudhoyono said government officials had to use the state budget carefully for local as well as international visits.

“Sources tell me that many visits by state officials were dubious. I hereby instruct all government officials to avoid unnecessary visits either domestically or abroad,” he said.

“For overseas travel, expenses cannot be borne by our embassies because these visits are official.
Use the allocated budget,” he added. (lnd)