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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be abroad for a week starting Saturday, to attend several regional summits.

Yudhoyono, accompanied by First Lady Ani Yudhoyono and a number of Cabinet members, is set to first fly to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to attend the ASEAN Summit and East Asia Summit, an official said on Thursday.

Presidential spokesman for Foreign Affairs Teuku Faizasyah said that Yudhoyono’s next destination would be Islamabad, Pakistan, where the D-8 Summit will be held.

Faizasyah said that the president and delegation would depart for Phnom Penh on Saturday, “From there, the President will fly to Islamabad on Nov. 21.”

Besides attending the plenary session of the ASEAN Summit, Yudhoyono would also attend side events such as the ASEAN Business Advisory Council, the ASEAN Plus Three Commemorative Summit and the ASEAN Global Dialogue.

The ASEAN Global Dialogue will also be attended by Asia Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda; IMF managing director Christine Lagarde; World Bank managing director Caroline Anstey; United Nations Conference on Trade and Development secretary general Supachai Panitchpakdi and WTO director general Pascal Lamy.

Yudhoyono is also scheduled to have bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit with, amongst others, the Chinese Premier.

The President has meetings scheduled in Islamabad with Pakistani President Azif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

The D-8 (Developing 8) is a group of developing countries with large Muslim populations which have formed an economic development alliance.

The objectives of D-8 are to improve the countries’ positions in the world economy, create new opportunities in trade, enhance decision-making at the international level, and raise standards of living. The main areas of cooperation include finance, banking, rural development, science and technology, humanitarian development, agriculture, energy, environment and health.

The grouping consists of Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran, Malaysia, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.

“The presence of Indonesian delegation in Phnom Penh is to reemphasize Indonesia’s commitment to realize the ASEAN Community in 2015,” Faizasyah said, referring to the creation of a single economic community in the region.

While in Islamabad, Indonesia will prioritize talks on trade, agriculture, food security, industry and small-medium enterprises, transportation, as well as energy and mineral resources, he added.

“The bilateral talks with Pakistan will focus on the improvement of cooperation in the sector of food security,” he said.

Yudhoyono and delegation are scheduled to return to Indonesia on Nov. 23.