M

yanmar’s president, Thein Sein, asked President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to back Myanmar’s bid to take over ASEAN’s rotating chair in 2014.

Sein made his pitch when he met Yudhoyono at Merdeka Palace during a state visit on Thursday.

“Yudhoyono noted [Myanmar’s] proposal and will bring the issue to be discussed at the leaders’ summit [in Jakarta],” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told a press conference after the meeting.

Yudhoyono subsequently ordered Marty to visit Myanmar to gather information on its readiness to hold ASEAN’s chair.

A previous plan for Myanmar to hold ASEAN’s chair in 2005 was scuttled after the nation skipped the association’s summit in Vientiane, Laos, in 2004 due to pressure from the international community on slow progress on national reconciliation and human rights.

Under the rotating chair system, Myanmar is currently slated to host the ASEAN summit in 2015.

Yudhoyono is scheduled to receive Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong at Merdeka Palace on Monday.

In their meeting, Yudhoyono and Sein discussed several issues, including economics, politics, social affairs and democratization in Myanmar.

The leaders also agreed to boost bilateral trade to US$500 million by 2015.

“The two leaders discussed efforts to increase investment from Indonesia in Myanmar, especially in energy, food and infrastructure,” Marty said.

No joint press conference followed Yudhoyono’s meeting with Myanmar’s president, as is customary for state visits.

This is Gen. Sein’s first foreign trip since he was sworn in as Myanmar’s head of state on March 30 following elections in 2010.

Sein’s visit comes just two days before the leaders of ASEAN’s member nations gather for the association’s most important summit on Saturday.

Marty said that Yudhoyono hailed efforts by Myanmar’s new government on democratization process and national reconciliation.

“There was no specific talk of Ibu Suu Kyi,” Marty said, referring to Nobel Peace Prize winner and Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.