^

Headlines

Indonesia's vice president to attend APEC meeting

Rosette Adel - Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines —  Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla will replace President Joko Widodo at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Laura del Rosario said on Sunday.

Del Rosario, also the country’s representative to the APEC senior officials' meeting, said the Philippines welcomes Kalla’s presence at the APEC gathering as he is known as one of the ablest politicians in Indonesia.

Kalla will represent Widodo, who earlier confirmed he is skipping the Manila meetings to attend to domestic concerns in Jakarta.

Indonesia will also send Indonesian Trade Minister Lembong to the meetings.

Another APEC leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin, will skip the Manila meetings and will be substituted by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev .

Both Putin and Widodo will still attend the G20 meeting in Turkey.

Del Rosario, however, said the absence of Widodo and Putin suggests that the APEC meetings is the lesser priority amid the the G-20 Summit and the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia.

"You take it as a leader’s priority that if there’s something happening in the domestic front, they do want to pay attention to that especially since this week is a very long week for them," Del Rosario said during the press briefing on Sunday.

"There's a G-20 Meeting, there's the APEC meeting, there's the ASEAN Summit meeting.  How many days [are those]? That's seven or eight days. And I know that there are some leaders who do not want to stay longer than five days away, you know, from their countries especially since things are very fluid,” she added.

No other leader, meanwhile, has backed out of the APEC meetings in Manila following the "terror" attacks in Paris that left at least 120 people dead.

vuukle comment

ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION

DEL ROSARIO

FOREIGN AFFAIRS UNDERSECRETARY LAURA

INDONESIAN TRADE MINISTER LEMBONG

INDONESIAN VICE PRESIDENT JUSUF KALLA

KALLA

PRESIDENT JOKO WIDODO

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN

RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER DMITRY MEDVEDEV

WIDODO AND PUTIN

Philstar
x
  • Latest
  • Trending
Latest
Latest
abtest
Are you sure you want to log out?
X
Login

Philstar.com is one of the most vibrant, opinionated, discerning communities of readers on cyberspace. With your meaningful insights, help shape the stories that can shape the country. Sign up now!

Get Updated:

Signup for the News Round now

FORGOT PASSWORD?
SIGN IN
or sign in with