Pangkalpinang - Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda is scheduled to visit Bangka island from December 23-25 to meet local officials, Bangka Belitung Governor Eko Maulana Ali said here on Thursday.
After performing prayers at Merdeka square here to mark Idul Adha, a Muslim holiday associated with the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, the governor said Wirayuda‘s visit to Bangka would be an honor to the tin-producing island.
Eko said he would brief Wirayuda on Bangka Belitung‘s involvement in some international activities such as the Dunia Melayu-Dunia Islam (DMMDI) or Malayan World-Islamic World and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) cooperation schemes.
The governor would also convey a number of things about Bangka Belitung‘s development programs to the foreign minister.
"We hope what we are going to tell the minister will be passed on to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono," the governor said.
While in Bangka, the foreign minister would visit Bukit Menumbing to see Menumbing tower and Menumbing hotel where Indonesia‘s first president, Soekarno, stayed when he was exiled in Bangka during the late 1940s.
On the occasion, Wirayuda will be accompanied by his wife, Herawatie Hassan, Foreign Affairs Ministry officials Razie Janie and Umar Hadi with their respective spouses.
Source: www.antara.co.id (21 Desember 2007)
