Yudhoyono meets US defense secretary, opens ASEAN Fair

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to meet on Monday morning with visiting US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in Nusa Dua, Bali.

“The President will meet the US defense secretary at 8 a.m.,. [Panetta] earlier met with [Indonesian] Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro here,” Indonesian presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said in Nusa Dua on Monday.

Panetta met with Purnomo on Sunday afternoon.

The meeting with the President is scheduled to take place at Ayodya Hotel in Nusa Dua, where Yudhoyono spent his third night in Bali. Julian declined to disclose what would be discussed at the meeting.

Yudhoyono is also scheduled on Monday to open the ASEAN Fair at the Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center [BNDCC], which will run until Nov. 23, alongside the upcoming 19th ASEAN Summit on Nov. 17-19.

Indonesian Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said the fair would feature cultural works of 10 ASEAN members, “displaying the variety of the cultures and at the same time highlighting the similarities that make us one community.”

The President and the First Lady are scheduled to visit the Pasifika Museum, 1 kilometer away from BNDCC, after opening the ASEAN Fair, Julian added as reported by tempointeraktif.com.