President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted a global statesmanship award from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Manila on Friday
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted a global statesmanship award from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Manila on Friday.
"I felt a little nervous because this award added a little more pressure on me. I hope that you all won't expect me to achieve world peace by the end of this week, but I'll see what I can do," he said in his acceptance speech, as reported by Antara news agency.
Founder and executive chairman of the WEF, Klaus Schwab, gave the award to Yudhoyono for the economic, humanitarian and democratic achievements he had accomplished over the past 10 years as Indonesia's leader.
Yudhoyono added that he hoped that he would have left a good impression when he left his office in October.
Filippino president Benigno Aquino III congratulated Yudhoyono as the first Asian leader to have received the award.
Yudhoyono received a similar award from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, a US-based interfaith coalition, in 2013. This was met by protests by various rights groups, who said the President did not deserve the award because he had allowed the persecution of minority groups in Indonesia. (fss)
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